Carcassonne, medieval double walled city – France

History of the City

In the south of France one can visit the city of Carcassonne, known for its medieval La Cité de Carcassonne. In the 2nd century BC the Roman Empire built a castellum to guard this strategic important spot to protect a major trade route. Soon there was also a settlement near this castle and in the first century BC Julius Caesar made it the capital of the colony: Julia Carsaco. In the fourth century AC the Romans built the inner city walls to protect it better. In 326 AC the Franks captured the city, but where expelled by the Romans.

After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AC the Visigoths captured the city and called it Carcassonne. The Visigoths raised the walls by removing the soil under the Roman walls and mason a wall below it. The older Roman wall is now on top of the Visigoth wall. In 712 the city was plundered by the Moors for the first time. In 1229 it finally came in possession of the French. This city has seen a lot of wars and lucky for us they did not destroy the walls when they outdated their functional need.

Visit Carcassonne.

You can walk the walls when the weather is ok. The old church is nice to spend some time in. The last time we visited the church a choir was exercising for a mass. There is enough tourist-proof food here. If you go on a rainy day, the amount of tourists is ok. On a sunny day you see more tourist than stones in the wall. Because there is almost no site in Europe that has a wall around the whole old city, it is a must-see for the history minded tourist. Enjoy the photos.