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Commune of Carcassonne |
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| Location | |
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Languedoc-Roussillon |
| Department | Aude |
| Arrondissement | Carcassonne |
| Intercommunality | Carcassonne |
| Mayor | Gérard Larrat (2001–2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 81 m–250 m (avg. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This list of countries, arranged alphabetically This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Languedoc-Roussillon ( Occitan: Lengadòc-Rosselhon; Catalan: Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is one of the 26 regions of France. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Aude ( Occitan: Aude) is a department in south-central France named after the Aude River. The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The arrondissement of Carcassonne is an arrondissement of France located in the Aude département, in the Languedoc-Roussillon The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. 111 m) |
| Land area¹ | 65. 08 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
43,950 |
| - Density | 675/km² (1999) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 11069/ 11000 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0. As of January 1, 2008, 64473140 people live in the French Republic. Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume The INSEE code is a numerical indexing code used by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE to identify various entities including communes Postal codes were introduced in France in 1972, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. C D E | |
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Carcassonne (Occitan: Carcassona) is a fortified French town in the Aude département, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc. Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Aude ( Occitan: Aude) is a department in south-central France named after the Aude River. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division For subsequent types of praefectura, see Prefect. Prefecture (from the Latin Praefectura) indicates the office The Kingdom of France was organised into Provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département Languedoc ( in French Lengadòc in Occitan) is a former Province of France, now continued in the modern-day ''régions'' of Languedoc-Roussillon It is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. The folk etymology—involving a châtelaine named Carcas, a ruse ending a siege and the joyous ringing of bells ("Carcas sona")—though memorialized in a neo-Gothic sculpture of Mme Carcas on a column near the Narbonne Gate—is of modern invention. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time Châtelain ( Med Lat castellanus, from castellum, a castle in France originally merely the equivalent of the English Castellan, The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began The fortress, which was thoroughly restored in 1853 by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc ( January 27 1814 &ndash September 17, 1879) was a French Architect and theorist famous for his "restorations" United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex
Contents |
Geography
History
| Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  France |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iv |
| Reference | 345 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1997 (21st Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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First signs of settlement in the region have been dated to about 3500 BC, but the hill site of Carsac—a Celtic place-name that has been retained at other sites in the south—became an important trading place in the 6th century BC. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex As of 2008 there are a total of 878 World Heritage Sites located in 145 "State Parties" This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Asia Minor, Cyprus, all of the Aegean Islands, the Canaries A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names ( toponyms) their origins meanings use and Typology. The Volcae Tectosages fortified the oppidum. The Volcae were a Celtic tribal confederation constituted sometime before the Gallic raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedon in the 270s and defeated the assembled Oppidum (plural oppida) is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of Ancient Rome.
Carcassonne became strategically identified when Romans fortified the hilltop around 100 BC and eventually made it the colonia of Julia Carsaco, later Carcasum (the process of swapping consonant is a metathesis). The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial A Roman colonia (plural coloniae) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it Metathesis (məˈtæθəsɨs is a Sound change that alters the order of Phonemes in a Word. The main part of the lower courses of the northern ramparts dates from Gallo-Roman times. See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief "Gallic Empire" of the 3rd century see Gallic Empire
In 462 the Romans officially ceded Septimania to the Visigothic king Theodoric II who had held Carcassonne since 453; he built more fortifications at Carcassonne, which was a frontier post on the northern marches: traces of them still stand. Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462 when Septimania was ceded to The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Theodoric II (in Spanish and Portuguese Teodorico) murdered his older brother Thorismund to become king of the Visigoths in 453 Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for Theodoric is thought to have begun the predecessor of the basilica that is now dedicated to Saint Nazaire. The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman In 508 the Visigoths successfully foiled attacks of the Frankish king Clovis. Saracens from Barcelona took Carcassonne in 725, but King Pippin the Younger drove them away in 759. Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first then later for all who professed the religion of Islam. Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Pepin or Pippin (714 &ndash 24 September 768) called the Short, and often known as Pepin the Younger or Pepin III, was
In 760, Pippin took most of the south of France, although he was unable to penetrate the impregnable fortress of Carcassonne.
In 1067 Carcassonne became the property of Raimond Bernard Trencavel, viscount of Albi and Nîmes, through his marriage with Ermengard, sister of the last count of Carcassonne. A viscount ( VAI-count is a member of the European Nobility whose comital title ranks usually as in the British peerage, above a For the city in Calabria Italy see Albi Italy. Albi is a commune in southern France. Nîmes ( Provençal Occitan: Nimes in both classical and Mistralian norms is a city in southern France. In the following centuries the Trencavel family allied in succession either with the counts of Barcelona or of Toulouse. The Trencavel were an important noble family in Languedoc during the 10th through 13th centuries They built the Château Comtal and the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire. The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman In 1096 Pope Urban II blessed the foundation stones of the new cathedral, a Catholic bastion against the Cathar heretics. Pope
Carcassonne became famous in its role in the Albigensian Crusades, when the city was a stronghold of occitan cathars. The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209&ndash1229 was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the Cathar In August 1209 the crusading army of Simon de Montfort forced its citizens to surrender. Simon IV de Montfort Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury 5th Earl of Leicester (1160 &ndash June 25, 1218) also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was After capturing Raymond-Roger de Trencavel and imprisoning and allowing him to die, Montfort made himself the new viscount. Raymond Roger Trencavel (also Raimond, Raimon Rogièr 1185 &ndash November 10, 1209 AD) was a member of the noble Trencavel family He added to the fortifications. Carcassonne became a border citadel between France and the kingdom of Aragon (Spain). Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain.
In 1240 Trencavel's son tried to reconquer his old domain but in vain. The city submitted to the rule of kingdom of France in 1247, and King Louis IX founded the new part of the town across the river. He and his successor Philip III built the outer ramparts. Philip the Bold Philip III ( 30 April 1245 &ndash 5 October 1285) called the Bold ( French: le Hardi) was Contemporary opinion still considered the fortress impregnable. During the Hundred Years' War, Edward the Black Prince failed to take the city in 1355, although his troops destroyed the Lower Town. The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, KG (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376 popularly known as The Black Prince, was the eldest son of King Edward
In 1659, the Treaty of Pyrenees transferred the border province of Roussillon to France, and Carcassonne's military significance was reduced. The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War. Roussillon ( French: Roussillon, ʀusiˈjɔ̃ Catalan: Rosselló, pronounced; Spanish: Rosellón, pronounced) is Fortifications were abandoned, and the city became mainly an economic center that concentrated on the woollen textile industry, for which a 1723 source quoted by Fernand Braudel found it “the manufacturing center of Languedoc” [1]. Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles of animals in the Caprinae family principally sheep, but the hair of certain species Fernand Braudel ( August 24 1902 &ndash November 27 1985) was the foremost French historian of the postwar era
Main sights
The fortified city
Carcassonne was struck from the roster of official fortifications under Napoleon and the Restoration, and the fortified cité of Carcassonne fell into such disrepair that the French government decided that it should be demolished. A decree to that effect that was made official in 1849 caused an uproar. The antiquary and mayor of Carcassonne, Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, and the writer Prosper Mérimée, the first inspector of ancient monuments, led a campaign to preserve the fortress as a historical monument. Prosper Mérimée ( September 28, 1803 &ndash September 23, 1870) was a French dramatist historian, archaeologist Later in the year the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, already at work restoring the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire, was commissioned to renovate the place. Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc ( January 27 1814 &ndash September 17, 1879) was a French Architect and theorist famous for his "restorations"
In 1853, works began with the west and southwest walling, followed by the towers of the porte Narbonnaise and the principal entrance to the cité. The fortifications were consolidated here and there but the chief attention was paid to restoring the roofing of the towers and the ramparts, where Viollet-le-Duc ordered the destruction of structures that had encroached against the walls, some of them of considerable age. Viollet-le-Duc left copious notes and drawings at his death in 1879, when 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. Fresh from work in the north of France, 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, in a snow-free environment. Yet, overall, Viollet-le-Duc's achievement at Carcassonne is agreed to be a work of genius, though not of strictest authenticity.
Fortifications consists of a double ring of ramparts and 53 towers.
Other
Another bridge, Pont Marengo, crosses the Canal du Midi and provides access to the railway station. The Pont Marengo (Marengo bridge crosses the Canal du Midi and links Carcassonne to the local railway station Lac de la Cavayère has been created as a recreational lake and is about five minutes from the city centre. Lac de la Cavayère is an Artificial lake in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of France, close to the mediaeval town of Carcassonne
Economy
The newer part (Ville Basse) of the city on the other side of the Aude river (which dates back from the Middle Ages, created after the crusade) manufactures shoes, rubber and textiles. Aude ( Occitan: Aude) is a department in south-central France named after the Aude River. The Aude River ( Latin Atax) is a River of southwestern France. A shoe is an item of Footwear. Shoes may vary from a simple Flip-flop to a complex Boot. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. It is also the center of a major AOC wine-growing region. Appellation d’origine contrôlée ( AOC) which translates as "controlled term of origin" is the French certification granted to certain French Wine is an Alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of Grape juice A major part of its income, however, comes from the tourism connected to the fortifications (Cité) and from boat cruising on the Canal du Midi. The Canal du Midi or Canal des Deux Mers ( Occitan: Canal de las Doas Mars / Canal del Miègjorn) is a 240 km long canal in the south of France Carcassonne receives about three million visitors annually. In the late 1990s Carcassonne airport started taking budget flights to and from European airports and in 2006 had regular flight connections with Dublin, Shannon, Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands and Charleroi. Carcassonne Salvaza Airport or Carcassonne Airport (Aéroport de Carcassonne en Pays Cathare is the main airport serving the town of Carcassonne and the south Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. Shannon International Airport, or Aerfort na Sionnainne in Irish is one of Ireland's primary three airports (along with Dublin Airport and Cork Airport London Stansted Airport is a passenger Airport located in the Uttlesford District of the English County of Essex about 38 miles (61 East Midlands Airport is an Airport in the East Midlands of England, near Castle Donington in Leicestershire. Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA also called Charleroi Airport, is located north of Charleroi, 46km (28
Miscellaneous
Historically, the language spoken in Carcassonne and throughout Languedoc-Rousillon was not French, but actually the quite different Occitan. Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan
On 6 March 2000, France issued a stamp commemorating the fortress of Carcassonne. Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
Hauntings
Carcassonne itself has its fair share of supposed hauntings. The Tower of Justice is said to be the most haunted part of the fortified town. A woman in a blood stained dress has been seen floating across the floor and the sounds of chanting has been reported. A portly gentleman has been seen standing and staring at visitors and a poltergeist has been experienced, lifting and throwing candle sticks.
Screams of pain and torture have been heard echoing from the outer walls.
The Pont Marengo Bridge is the scene of many ghost sightings. A woman in black stands and stares at the canal below, a small boy dressed in red walks along and vanishes and a man in green looks around before dropping something wrapped in a bundle into the water.
Sport
Carcassonne is home to the AS Carcassonne rugby league club. AS Carcassonne are a semi-professional Rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the south of France. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games They play in the Elite One Championship. The Elite One Championship (French Le Championnat de France Elite) is the top-tiered exclusively French, Rugby league domestic competition Puig Aubert, considered by many to be the greatest French rugby league player of all time, is the most notable player to come from the Carcassonne club. Puig Aubert (born March 24, 1925 in Andernach, Germany – died June 3, 1994 in Carcassonne, France) was debatably
In popular culture
- The history of Carcassonne is re-told in the novel Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. Labyrinth is an archaeological mystery English-language novel written by Kate Mosse set both in the Middle Ages and present-day France Kate Mosse (born 20 October 1961 is an English Author and Broadcaster.
- A board game and a video game version of it are named after this town. Carcassonne is a tile-based German-style Board game for two to five players designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and published in 2000 Carcassonne is the Xbox Live Arcade version of the popular board game designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede for the Xbox 360, and developed
- Portions of the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves were shot in and around Carcassonne. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is a 1991 Adventure film directed by Kevin Reynolds.
See also
Notes
- ^ Fernand Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce 1982, vol. Carcassonne Cathedral ( Cathédrale Saint-Michel de Carcassonne) is a Roman Catholic cathedral and a National monument of France, in Carcassonne The Basilica of St Nazaire and St Celsus ( Basilique Saint-Nazaire-et-Saint-Celse de Carcassonne) formerly St II of Civilization and Capitalism, p 334
External links
- Official website of the city of Carcassonne (English) / (French) / (Spanish) / (German) / (Dutch)
- Cité de Carcassonne, from the French Ministry of Culture
- A very complete and multilingual site about Carcassonne and the area
- Photos of the medieval city of Carcassonne
- (French) Official website of Carcassonne Airport
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