 Caunes lies in the northern part of the modern touristic region of the “Pays Cathare” – Cathar Country – which stretches here from the Pyrenees.The town sits at the foot of the Montagne Noir which are themselves the southernmost extent of the Massif Central.The change in slope designates a change in geology from the predominantly metamorphic rocks of the nearby mountains to the alluvial deposits of the plains.