Carcassonne in France is a fortified medieval city in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. When you step inside the high walls and look up at the pointed towers, it feels a bit like entering a fantasy story. The fortified city, Cité de Carcassonne, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is visited by around three million tourists every year.
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ShareMedieval town with a Roman fortress
Construction of the fortress began in Roman times, around 500 BC, and many new buildings were added during the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, the French government decided to demolish everything, but after strong protests, it was renovated instead. This means that some parts (such as the special roofs) are not original, but this does not make the buildings any less interesting.
Walking through the gate today feels like being thrown far back into history. The narrow cobbled alleys are steep and here and there you come across wells and other details that remind you of what life might have been like in the past.
Restaurants and shops
Today the town is full of small restaurants, creperies and shops, all charmingly set in a medieval environment. Here you'll find everything from sweets to shoes and trinkets. We stumbled into a small jewellery shop with nice rings for men. And yes, a ring had to come home! He usually has too big fingers for all rings, but here the range was a little larger. In addition, the ring was really nice!
What we like about Carcassonne - medieval castle? A cool city that is definitely worth a visit! If you come by car or camper van, there are large car parks just outside, and from the car park it's an easy walk to the entrance.
Carcassonne in France
Settlements have been found here from 3500 BC and this was an important trading centre in ancient times. There is also a huge and beautiful cemetery here that I think you should see before you leave. We are now very close to Spain and this was the last outpost for many years for trade.
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Åsa says:
What a nice candy store! (:
17 April 2015 - 9:22
solan says:
Good rope in HD on you. You are good role models for mobile rolling...We also visited Carcassonne, medieval in the present. We tricked our way back to the coast along the canal on small roads. Have some French goods in the freezer...but tonight we are feasting on white asparagus from southern Germany. Nice continued roll!
17 April 2015 - 9:27
Ama de casa says:
Definitely a cool city! Have been there a couple of times when we passed by canal boat. Once I even got to ride the Little Train up to the city from the canal. Good luck!
🙂
17 April 2015 - 11:06
Mr Steve says:
Fortunately, at any given time there is always a wise person who makes sure that our history is preserved for posterity.
17 April 2015 - 12:15
admin says:
Asa, right?
😉
Solan, the picture Lasse took has really come in handy. Perfect with a good picture of us outside the car, thank you very much for that! Sounds great with both French and German delicacies! Does this mean that you are home now? Continue to have a good time!
Ama de casa, cool to pass by canal boat. Really cool city we thought!
Steve, yes really lucky in this case! But there is a part of history that has been destroyed too unfortunately....
17 April 2015 - 12:38
Annika says:
Oh how wonderful it must be to walk there. Really FEEL the history. I would love that.
The candy shop is just so cool!!!
Nice to see photos from the French grocery store in the post below too.
Have a nice weekend!
17 April 2015 - 14:50
BP says:
Beautiful, cosy and charming! Really like that city:-)
17 April 2015 - 15:53
admin says:
Annika, I liked that it was a whole town and not just a castle or church - it was so much more emotional that way! Wishing you a nice weekend!
BP, so did we!
🙂
17 April 2015 - 17:06
JUNITJEJ says:
How nice it looks!
17 April 2015 - 20:11
Anja says:
It was really nice to see Carcassonne again! It has something to do with the history of the Moors as I remember it... Well, I was probably there at the age of 23 and in Toulouse the same trip... and climbed the Pyrenees up to 3500 metres (terrified for six hours... - those memories, as I said). True and important comment Steve (when you see everything being destroyed by terrorists in all sorts of countries)!
17 April 2015 - 20:48
Anja says:
Forgot the important thing - when you stood there so high up in the Pyrenees after all the fear, it was SO amazing! Just DO it!
17 April 2015 - 21:24
Ditte says:
Thank you for visiting Carcassonne! Pure nostalgia for me. And so much fun to come here again. Great pictures that bring back old and wonderful memories of the sweet 60's language courses. Realise that I should probably come back to France again.
17 April 2015 - 21:37
Lena says:
Very nice historical city! It would be too horrible if historical places people tried to save/care for would be destroyed by terrorists 🙁 I am devastated by what is shown on the news every day :-/ You are right to see famous places as soon as possible 🙂 .
17 April 2015 - 21:40
admin says:
Anja, how nice that you were in Carcassonne! I've read about the Moors in many contexts (e.g. Alhambra) but here I thought there was more about Saracens, Gauls and Franks, but it's not easy to get a grip on history that extends over such a long period of time... Impressive that you climbed the Pyrenees!!! Sounds amazing, but I suspect I'm a bit too scared of heights for that...
😉
Ditte, glad we can bring back some memories! Carcassonne was a place we really liked!
🙂
Lena, that's right! Some people on this planet find it hard to see beyond themselves and their own bizarre beliefs, unfortunately.
18 April 2015 - 7:28
Inga M says:
Fantastic city! Reminiscent of Visby! It would have been a weekend robbery to demolish parts of this, luckily you came to your senses. I guess you are warm and comfortable with some early summer heat or so? Here it is still pretty grim even though the sun shines often. Last night it was minus 2 degrees and yesterday there was a strong northerly wind although it looked inviting through the window. It was not a nice boat trip for Roland out to Egenäs.
Have a nice trip and hope you get the training going!
18 April 2015 - 9:47
admin says:
No M, we have around 20 degrees, sometimes sunny and sometimes cloudy. Pretty nice in other words! Huh sounds cold and rough for a boat trip!!!
18 April 2015 - 17:35
Elisabeth says:
It's wise to visit Carcassonne outside of the tourist season - in the middle of summer it can be pretty awful. But it's certainly an incredible experience to scrap around in the middle of history! Probably time for us to go there again!
18 April 2015 - 20:00
Across the board says:
Visiting Carcassone was really like being thrown back into the Middle Ages. You could almost hear the rattle of armour. Smart that you were there now and not in the holiday season - it was crowded then 😉.
19 April 2015 - 12:27
Helga says:
Oh how cosy it looks!
20 April 2015 - 18:03