Medieval City of Carcassonne

Carcassonne - The Medieval City of Southwestern France

Where were you when...? A Carcassonne Memory.

Thanks to guest writer Linda Rowe for her post on Carcassonne which shows the incredible power of travel and the memories it creates. Now let's read on about her visit to Carcassonne, the medieval city of southwestern France and why Linda clearly remembers her visit to the ancient walled city.

Our initial view of the medieval town of Carcassonne

Long before we entered the medieval town of Carcassonne, the walls of the old town and the slate roofs of the turrets could be seen from quite a distance, given that it sits on a hilltop. Walking across the drawbridge we entered a 13th century world of towers ( 52 of them), turrets and cobblestones.

As a natural defensive spot beside the River Aude, the site has been occupied and fortified since before Roman times. It was a Roman stronghold, before being ceded in the 5th century to the Visigoth King Theodoric II. From then until the 14th century, the fortress of Carcassonne remained one of the main strongholds in an area that was much fought over by dukes, kings and counts from the north and from the south.

Legend has it that when Charlemagne besieged La Cite 1,200 years ago, Madame Caras fooled the troops by throwing a fat pig over the wall, causing the opposing troops to decide they would never be able to starve the people out and thus ended the seige. To express the joy about the end of the besiegement Madame Carcas rang the bells of the city.  A besieger commented with the words : “Madame Carcassonne” (Madame Carcas is ringing the bells).

Exploring the old town of Carcassonne

We spent a very windy, cold afternoon exploring the old town as we walked narrow, winding streets, trying to find some respite from the icy wind, but also enjoying the array of shops. Basilique Saint-Nazaire built in the 12th century,  is a fine example of southern French romanesque and gothic architecture. It contains some significant medieval stained-glass windows, notably two beautiful rose windows. Walking part of the 3 km of ramparts, we had a magnificent view over the lower town, the surrounding Aude valley with its vineyards and the Pyrenees to the south. Between the outer and inner walls we saw the efforts of the people to fortify and protect themselves.

Feeling the cold, we were quite glad to be able to retreat to our booked accomodation just outside the wall.
Despite driving through France for 2 weeks, I had not had much opportunity to practise even my basic French. Every BnB we had stayed in, our hosts spoke excellent English. Until Carcassonne, where we discovered our hostess spoke no English at all! Fortunately, I was able to understand and communicate enough to get by, in fact “Vous parlez tres bien” was her response to my apology for my stumbling French!

After a delicious hot meal and a comfortable night, we entered the dining room for breakfast. It was October 20, 2011. Our hostess entered very excitedly with a torrent of French that I could not decipher. I brought out my standard, “Plus lentement s’il vous plait; je ne comprends pas!” She slowed down a little, although I could still only make out a few words such as “mort” and “Gaddafi”, but it was her dramatic gestures of drawing her hand across her throat accompanied by suitable sounds that I came to realise that the terrorist Colonel Gaddafi had been killed.

We spent that morning exploring Ville Basse, the modern lower city which is connected to the old city by two bridges. It certainly had its quota of monuments and fountains alongside modern shops. As we travelled on throughout the day we met other people who were also full of the news and gave us more details about the event. It was being said, the work of French troops had brought about his demise and the French were very proud of this, but I am not sure of the veracity of this. However, this is one historical event that I do remember where I was!

Thanks Linda for this travel memory of your visit to the medieval city of Carcassonne.

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