Carcassonne

**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
s being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209]]
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 take 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**

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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

## 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