"La Cité Médiévale - Carcassonne " a Carcassonne Travel Page by fossettes

In late March we boarded a TGV train for the south of France. In the Languedoc-Roussillon region you'll find the medieval town of Carcassonne. Ten years ago my husband and I spent the last night of our honeymoon in this pictuesque place and were excited to show it to our daughter, since she has a new-found appreciation of knights and castles!

The train took us through beautiful country as we crossed the Massif Central, France's huge central plateau of ancient granite and crystalline rock. A change of trains in Montpellier proved a stumbling block, as we read our tickets wrong and missed our connecting train! But, a few coffees and Oranginas later we were back on track and soon we pulled into the Carcassonne train station, found a taxi and were taken to our hotel, l'Hotel le Donjon les Ramparts, one of only a handful of hotels situated within the ramparts of the medieval city.

- Carcas, a village found 2 kilometers South of Carcassonne, was a very large and active settlement during the 9th and 10th centuries BC.

- The residents of Carcas migrated to the present location of Carcassonne around 600 BC. At that time a large moat was dug around the city and a high and reinforced wooden fence was constructed to defend the city.

- During the 3rd century BC there were many attacts on the city of Carcassonne by Barbarians. The ramparts surrounding the city were improved and made more solid.

- In the second century, B.C., the Romans settled in Carcassonne. It's location was considered ideal, situated between the Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as on the route between the Iberian Peninsula and greater Europe.

- During the 12th century the château and cathedral were constructed.

- In the 13th century, Kings Louis VIII, Louis IX and Phillip the Bold added a second wall of fortification and thw two walls now have a total of 52 defensive towers! The space in between the two ramparts, called the "lices" provided easy defense and were used for jousting and crossbow practice.

- By the 17th century, the fortified walls were no longer of importance since in 1659 the Treaty of the Pyrenees moved the French-Spanich border. The walls, no longer being cared for, fell into ruin.

- During the 19th century, the walls were restored, and while there's a slight feel of Hollywood because everyhting looks so perfectly preserved, it enables us to step back in time with amazing architectual accuracy!

Today Carcassonne is one of France's top tourist destinations. It has been used as the setting for a number of films, including Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood". Within the walled city are homes, hotels, restaurants, and "beaucoup" souvenir shops. Below the citadel is the more modern city situated on the Canal du Midi; the 240-km waterway comprised of locks, bridges and aqueducts completed in 1681.

My daughter loved her time in Carcassonne! The walls are perfect for little explorers and the romance of the medieval era was not lost on her!