Carcassonne (Carcassona in Occitan) is a fortified French town, in the Aude département of which it is the préfecture, in the former province of Languedoc. It is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. The folk etymology – involving a châtelaine named Carcas, a ruse ending a siege and the joyous ringing of bells ('Carcas sona') – though memorialized in a neo-Gothic sculpture of Mme Carcas on a column near the Narbonne Gate—is of modern invention. The fortress, which was thoroughly restored from 1853 by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997.
GeographyThe town is located 90 km (56 miles) south-east of Toulouse. It stands in the gap between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central of France. Carcassonne is at the crossing of two major traffic routes in use since Antiquity: the route leading from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and that from the Massif Central to Spain, skirting the Pyrenees.
Main sights The fortified cityCarcassonne was struck from the roster of official fortifications under Napoleon and the Restoration, and the fortified cité of Carcassonne fell into such disrepair that the French government decided that it should be demolished. A decree to that effect that was made official in 1849 caused an uproar. The antiquary and mayor of Carcassonne, Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, and the writer Prosper Mérimée, the first inspector of ancient monuments, led a campaign to preserve the fortress as a historical monument. Later in the year the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, already at work restoring the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire, was commissioned to renovate the place.
In 1853, works began with the west and southwest walling, followed by the towers of the porte Narbonnaise and the principal entrance to the cité. The fortifications were consolidated here and there but the chief attention was paid to restoring the roofing of the towers and the ramparts, where Viollet-le-Duc ordered the destruction of structures that had encroached against the walls, some of them of considerable age. Viollet-le-Duc left copious notes and drawings at his death in 1879, when his pupil Paul Boeswillwald continued the rehabilitation of Carcassonne.
The restoration was strongly criticized during Viollet-le-Duc's lifetime. Fresh from work in the north of France, he made the error of using slates and restoring the roofs as pointed cones, where local practice was traditionally of tile roofing and low slopes, in a snow-free environment. Yet, overall, Viollet-le-Duc's achievement at Carcassonne is agreed to be a work of genius, though not of strictest authenticity.
Fortifications consists of a double ring of ramparts and 53 towers.
OtherAnother bridge, Pont Marengo, crosses the Canal du Midi and provides access to the railway station. Lac de la Cavayère has been created as a recreational lake and is about five minutes from the city centre.
EconomyThe newer part (Ville Basse) of the city on the other side of the Aude river manufactures shoes, rubber and textiles. It is also the center of a major AOC wine-growing region. A major part of its income, however, comes from the tourism connected to the fortifications (Cité) and from boat cruising on the Canal du Midi. Carcassonne receives about three million visitors annually. In the late 1990s Carcassonne airport started taking budget flights to and from European airports and in 2006 had regular flight connections with Dublin, Shannon, Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands and Brussels.
MiscellaneousHistorically, the language spoken in Carcassonne and throughout Languedoc-Rousillon was not French, but actually the quite different Occitan.On 6 March 2000, France issued a stamp commemorating the fortress of Carcassonne.
SportCarcassonne was the starting point for a stage in the 2004 Tour de France and an endpoint in the 2006 Tour de France.
Rugby League is very popular in Carcassonne and the local team is AS Carcassonne. They are traditionally a strong team of French rugby league championship and often compete in the Challenge Cup in England. The city often hosts the Grand Final as well as International Test matches.
In popular cultureThe history of Carcassonne is re-told in fiction, in the novel Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.
Carcassonne is a board game created by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede in 2000, and published by Hans im Glück and Rio Grande Games. 2-5 players develop the area around Carcassonne by strategically placing land tiles on the board.
References
