Carcassonne
Carcassonne ( Occitan: Carcassona ) is a town of about 47,000 inhabitants in southern France and prefecture of the Aude. It is the seat of the municipal association Carcassonne agglomeration with more than 105,000 inhabitants. Your landmark is the medieval, hilltop location, the old town, as Cité of Carcassonne designated fortress.
Carcassonne is located about 70 km north- west of Perpignan on an ancient trade route between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The city is situated on the rivers Aude and Fresquel and is crossed by the Canal du Midi.
History
Originally there was a Roman fortress around which settled the Visigoths in the 5th century. In the Middle Ages 3,000-4,000 people lived in the city. Carcassonne was the seat of the Inquisition in Southern France, but also a center of the Cathars.
For a long time the fortress on the border between the Kingdom of Aragon and the rest of France. In 1209 Carcassonne was the aim of the Albigensian Crusade. The city was already crowded with refugees and offered after two weeks of siege, the surrender to. The two weeks had used the inhabitants to flee via an underground tunnel to the nearby forests. There were about 500 people, mainly old people, the sick and children back. Of these, 100 were allowed to leave the city, the other 400 were burned or hanged.
As of 1247 arose on the left bank, the lower town, which developed in the course of the following centuries, and where there lives the vast number of people. In contrast, the present city center, especially the fortress on the hill, disrepair over the centuries. The fortress was first restored in 1853 by Eugène Viollet -le- Duc and lies today in the Old Town.
The Canal du Midi initially led past the town, as it is not sufficiently contributed to the cost of its construction. The construction of more favorable to trade tour of the city was started in 1786 and ended as a result of the disruption caused by the French Revolution only at the beginning of the 19th century.
Monuments and landmarks
See also: List of Monuments historiques in Carcassonne
Cité of Carcassonne
The Cité de Carcassonne on the right bank of the Aude since 1997 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is equipped with 4 million visitors per year, the main tourist attraction of the city and one of the most frequently visited destinations in France.
The medieval fortress is unique from its size and its state of preservation ago in Europe. The inhabited Cité is enclosed by a double ring of walls. Main building in the interior are a castle (Château comtal ) and a church ( Basilique Saint- Nazaire ).
Former Cathedral of Saint- Nazaire and Saint- Celse
1096 Pope Urban II visited the city, and blessed intended for a new building stones; the Romanesque building, which forms the present nave was probably completed around the middle of the 12th century. The expansion in the Gothic style lasted until 1330. Cathedral was until 1801 a bishopric.
Cathedral Saint- Michel
This church was first built in the 13th century as a simple parish church. As part of the Concordat of 1801 the church to the cathedral of the Diocese of Carcassonne was charged.
Other
Inside the castle an earl's castle was in 1127 the château comtal built. Within the castle city form its walls a rectangle that is protected by five towers and a moat. The Canal du Midi ( " channel of the South" ) connects Toulouse with the Mediterranean at Sète. The church of Saint - gimer was in the years 1854-1859 by Eugène Viollet -le- Duc gebaut.Weitere points of interest include
- The Bastide Saint -Louis
- The bridge Pont Vieux from the 14th century
- The Neptune Fountain at the Place Carnot (18th century)
- The covered market (Les Halles )
Church Saint- gimer, the right of the Aude
Place Carnot
The shopping street Rue Verdun
The city as a filming location for movies
Carcassonne was and is often used mainly because of the historical fortification as a film set and also as a film location for numerous films. So Walt Disney was inspired by the turrets for his animated films Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. 1965 parts of the film comedy " Hot stuff for Monsieur " with Louis de Funès were filmed here. For the film " The Visitor", which plays in the Middle Ages and was produced in 1993, the city was an ideal location. The imposing backdrop can also be seen in the resulting 2008 fantasy film " The Letter for the King ."
Sons and daughters of the town
- Peter Nolascus (around 1182/1189-1249/1256 ), founder of the Order Mercedarians (birthplace in dispute )
- Jacques Gamelin (1728-1803), painter
- Fabre d' Églantine (1750-1794), poet
- Paul Sabatier (1854-1941), chemist and Nobel Prize winner
- Maurice Sarrail (1856-1929), General of the First World War
- André Cayatte (1909-1989), Film Director
- Henri Gougaud (* 1936), writer and Chansonier
- Albert Fert ( b. 1938 ), Nobel Laureate in Physics 2007
- Jean -Marie Besset ( born 1959 ), playwright and screenwriter
- Olivia Ruiz ( born 1980 ), musician
Twinning
- Eggenfelden in Lower Bavaria
- Baeza in Spain