The start of our amazing holiday begins at Carcassonne

I apologise for the long break from my blog, but we had an amazing holiday and I am still going through the many photos which we took, therefore posts will still be slow for a while!  Furthermore, to those that follow me because of the Charente region, I apologise, but we will be in several different regions of France for a while, plus a trip to Spain, a cruise in the Mediterranean and a week in the UK.

We left home in mid-May, driving south to Carcassonne.  We were to meet, and stay with, a former school friend of mine who lives close to the town, and who I have not seen for more years than I like to remember!   We arrived in the area by late morning so we decided that we would see the city itself, before proceeding on to our friends.

Carcassonne is a medieval fortified city in the French department of Aude. The first signs of settlement in this area have been dated back to 3500BC.   It was founded in the Gallo-Roman period, but has developed over the centuries into a much larger town.  

The following is what is written on the  sign as you enter the medieval area :-  

After the Albigeois crusade, in the XIII century, the Seneschal representing the King of France occupied the town.   In September 1240, Raymond Trencavel tried with the help of the local lords to recapture the town by laying siege to the 'Cite'.   Helped by the occupants of the 'bourgs' (market towns), besiegers finally reached the ramparts of the fortress which nearly fell into their hands.   The siege finally failed and the King of France asked the local authorities to have the houses which had betrayed him pulled down.   In 1263, King Louis IX 'Saint Louis' decided to create a new bourg on the South side of the river Aude in order to give back to the 'cite' the defensive potentialities.   This is the way the "Ville Basse of Carcassonne" called "Bastide" was born on the present site.  The new town was characterised by an orthogonal plan forming 1000 square metres.  In 1355, during the 100 Years War, the Ville Basse, hardly fortified was completely destroyed by the "Black Prince".   Two years later, Carcassonne was rebuilt on the South side of the river as a smaller town, but surrounded by ramparts and towers.  

For further information on the town see Here

In 1849, the city had fallen into such disrepair that a decree was passed by the government to demolish it.  This caused such an uproar, that in 1853 restoration was started.  There is a double ring of ramparts and 53 towers.

 It was added to the UNESCO list of world heritage sites in 1997.

The restoration is excellent, and it is wonderful to walk around the site and imagine you were there many, many years before! The wooden sections atop the walls are to protect defenders standing on the battlements.

 The church is undergoing restoration at the present time, but here are a couple of photos without signs of scaffolding.

There are also a few active shops in the centre. I am sure they do very good business with the tourists, especially during the summer months.

You can clearly see here the double ramparts.

and from the outside looking up.

I just loved this little bridge which was on the outside of the old city.

The river Aude, with the more modern part of the city  on the left, on the opposite side of the river to the older fortified city.

The dome in the newer part of the city under which I believe they hold events and performances. 

I loved this doorway in the new area

and this fountain, which sadly was dry!

This is a beautiful city and I would love to return and spend more time here and surrounding areas. I hope that you enjoyed this first day of our trip, I will try to keep up to date a little more often now!!