Title: Carcassonne Content: Carcassonne  is a fortified French town, in the Aude département, Occitanie region. It is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. This bastide, 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. ==History== Romans fortified the hilltop of Carcassonne around 100 BC and eventually made it the colonia of Julia Carsaco, later Carcasum. The main part of the lower courses of the northern ramparts dates from Gallo-Roman times. In 462 the Romans officially left and the Visigothic king Theodoric II built more fortifications at Carcassonne, some of them still stand. In 760, Pippin was unable to take Carcassonne, although he was able to most of the south of France. In 1067 Carcassonne became the property of Raimond Bernard Trencavel, viscount of Albi and Nîmes. Carcassonne became famous in its role in the Albigensian Crusades, when the city was a stronghold of occitan cathars. In August 1209 the crusading army of Simon de Montfort forced its citizens to surrender. He added to the fortifications. Carcassonne became a border citadel between France and Aragon. ==Geography== Carcassonne is at about southeast of Toulouse in the space between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central of France. It is at the crossing of two major traffic routes: the route leading from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and that from the Massif Central to Spain, skirting the Pyrenees. Both routes exist since ancient history. The commune is in the valley of the Aude river. Another river that flows through the city is the Fresquel river. The Canal du Midi also flows through the commune. The commune of Carcassonne has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .  The commune of Carcassonne is surrounded by the communes: ===Climate=== The climate of Carcassonne, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - oceanic climate with warm summers. ==Population== The inhabitants of Carcassonne are known, in French, as Carcassonnais (women: Carcassonnaises ). With a population of 45,941, Carcassonne has a population density of inhabitants/km2. Evolution of the population in Carcassonne Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:50000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:10000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:5000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1968 text:1968 bar:1975 text:1975 bar:1982 text:1982 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2014 text:2014 PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:1968 from:0 till: 43616 bar:1975 from:0 till: 42154 bar:1982 from:0 till: 41153 bar:1990 from:0 till: 43470 bar:1999 from:0 till: 43950 bar:2006 from:0 till: 46639 bar:2011 from:0 till: 47268 bar:2014 from:0 till: 45941 PlotData= bar:1968 at: 43616 fontsize:S text: 43,616 shift:(-12,5) bar:1975 at: 42154 fontsize:S text: 42,154 shift:(-17,5) bar:1982 at: 41153 fontsize:S text: 41,153 shift:(-17,5) bar:1990 at: 43470 fontsize:S text: 43,470 shift:(-17,5) bar:1999 at: 43950 fontsize:S text: 43,950 shift:(-17,5) bar:2006 at: 46639 fontsize:S text: 46,639 shift:(-17,5) bar:2011 at: 47268 fontsize:S text: 47,268 shift:(-17,5) bar:2014 at: 45941 fontsize:S text: 45,941 shift:(-17,5) Carcassonne forms, with other 2 communes, the urban area of Carcassonne with a population of 49,257 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Carcassonne, formed by 71 communes with a population of 98,318 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . === Education === A campus of the École nationale de l'aviation civile (French civil aviation academy) is in Carcassonne. == Administration == Carcassonne is the prefecture of the Aude department, the capital of the arrondissement of Carcassonne and the administrative centre  of three cantons: * Carcassonne-1, with 15,128 inhabitants (2014). * Carcassonne-2, with 20,700 inhabitants (2014). * Carcassonne-3, with 21,479 inhabitants (2014). It is part of the intercommunality Carcassonne Agglo . === Twinned and partner towns === Carcassonne is twinned with: * Eggenfelden, Germany * Baeza, Spain * Hargesheim, Germany ==The fortified city== Carcassonne vieux pont.jpg|The fortified city of Carcassonne and the Pont Vieux crossing the Aude river The fortifications consist of a double ring of ramparts and 53 towers. In 1849, the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc took over restoration works. At his death in 1879 his pupil Paul Boeswillwald, and later the architect Nodet continued the rehabilitation of Carcassonne. The restoration was strongly criticized during Viollet-le-Duc's lifetime because 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, as in this region snow was very seldom. But today Viollet-le-Duc's work at Carcassonne is thought to be a work of genius, even if it is not exactly the same as it was. ==Transports== * Carcassonne Airport ==Gallery== Carcassonne JPG01.jpg|The Aude river, the old bridge and the medieval city. Carcassonne wall.jpg|Castle walls. France carcassonne hotel de la cite.jpg|Hôtel de la cité. Carcassonne JPG04.jpg|Basilica of St Nazarius and St Celsus. ==Related pages== * Arrondissement of Carcassonne * Communes of the Aude department