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

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

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

Related pages
 Arrondissement of Carcassonne
 Communes of the Aude department

References

Other websites

 Official website of the city of Carcassonne
 Office de tourisme de Carcassone
 Online resource for the Aude & Pyrénées-Orientales , including tourist information for Carcassonne
 Cité de Carcassonne, from the French Ministry of Culture
  Photographs of Carcassonne and the Region
 Many photos of Carcassonne 
 Tourist attractions in Carcassonne 
 Official website of Carcassonne Airport  

Bastides
Communes in Aude
Departmental capitals in France
World Heritage Sites in France