During the siege of Minerve by Simon de Montfort, in 1210, part of the Albigensian crusades waged against the cathars by the king of France and his paymaster, the pope, legend has it that a young woman, Hélis, was walled up alive in a cave on the Causse. Her crime was to have freed an enemy prisoner. During the nights of each winter, her voice could be heard singing in the wind brushing over the rocks.

In ancient times, the Greek legends tell how Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, suffered the same punishment for defying the decree of Creon, uncle of Oedipus, forbidding the burial of her brother, Polynices.

In our days, at the end of the 20th century, a Serb soldier in Yugoslavia was condemned for not executing civilians.

This story finds its echos through all ages and epoques including our own. It has been used by a local group as the basis of a theatrical production bringing together professional and amateur players with local chorale groups. Originally planned for presentation in the gorges of Minerve in 2000, it had to be postponed for a year because of the devastating floods of November, 1999. The dramatic production concerns the life of Hélis in Minerve, a fortified village under siege by the army of Simon de Montfort. She is a young woman of her times, living with her family and friends in a closed world and subjected to conflicting logics.
Text written by Christian Pastre, directed by Jacques Brun, choirs under the direction of Karla Doyen, the production was launched by the association "Rendez-Vous Culturels en Minervois"