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Carcassonne

Carcassonne rises from the plain like something out of a storybook — the largest fortified medieval city in Europe, its double ring of walls and towers restored to full silhouette in the 19th century by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Crossing the Pont Vieux over the Aude, the Cité comes into view first as a whole, walls stacked on walls climbing the hill. Inside, the medieval streets open onto small squares, tables spilling out from the Auberge de Dame Carcas, and the Basilique Saints-Nazaire-et-Celse holds its own Gothic rose window and flying buttresses in the middle of it all. A walk along the ramparts finds wooden covered walkways threading between towers, conical rooftops rising over a lavender field and the valley beyond. Evening settles in gold: the fortress walls lit up against the dark, the whole city glowing like it has for eight hundred years.

A medieval square inside the Cite de Carcassonne, tables set outside the Auberge de Dame Carcas — A medieval square inside the Cité, tables set outside the Auberge de Dame Carcas

The Gothic rose window and flying buttresses of the Basilique Saints-Nazaire-et-Celse in Carcassonne — The Gothic rose window and flying buttresses of the Basilique Saints-Nazaire-et-Celse

A wooden covered rampart walkway along the fortified walls of the Cite de Carcassonne — A wooden covered rampart walkway along the fortified walls

Conical-roofed towers along the ramparts of Carcassonne, a lavender field in the distance — Conical-roofed towers along the ramparts, a lavender field in the distance

Turrets of the Cite de Carcassonne seen from a terrace just outside the walls — Turrets of the Cité, seen from a terrace just outside the walls

The fortified walls of the Cite de Carcassonne lit up gold at night — The fortified walls, lit up gold at night

← 2022 Italy & France