Since the pre-Roman period, a fortified settlement has existed on the hill where Carcassonne now stands. In its present form it is an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town, with its massive defences encircling the castle and the surrounding buildings, its streets and its fine Gothic cathedral. Carcassonne is also of exceptional importance because of the lengthy restoration campaign undertaken by Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of the modern science of conservation.[unesco]
Carcassonne is a perfectly restored medieval town, so that coming to town from the surrounding countryside and suddenly trovandoselo before, like being plunged back a thousand years. Hardly believe their eyes, the vision is incredibly impressive towers and ramparts of caramel color to dominate the lower city (the latest), on the banks of the River Aude. I almost feel like you are dreaming, like knights, troubadours and medieval maidens are ready to welcome the largest fortified city in Europe. In the background, the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees. Carcassonne is a city more than true, an ancient village came up to us to tell of the glorious past. It is appreciated by any one arrives. His appearance with impressive stands proud in the mind of the visitor, encircled by double walls of about 2 km and accented with 56 watchtowers. The strategic location between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe, Carcassonne has made an important military garrison since the Roman times, and then a place that has repeatedly been at the center of bloody wars partition. During the period of his m
The citadel of Carcassonne is known first and foremost as a fortified medieval town, but this mask is still rock occupied by man since the sixth century BC, first in the form of a Gallic enclave, and then a Roman city walls equipped from III to IV century AD. On the west side of this primitive fortification rests the castle built in the twelfth century by the Viscounts of Trencavel. In the early thirteenth century, Carcassonne was taken by Simon de Montfort by reason of the Albigensian Crusade, to be annexed later to the royal domain. The fortification works were extended over the whole thirteenth century with the construction of the outer belt and the modernization of the inner wall, and with it the square became an impregnable fortress. Lost its strategic importance after the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. In the second half of the nineteenth century was the subject of a massive restoration effort under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, then has been inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The citadel of Carcassonne is known first and foremost as a fortified medieval town, but this mask is still rock occupied by man since the sixth century BC, first in the form of a Gallic enclave, and then a Roman city walls equipped from III to IV century AD. On the west side of this primitive fortification rests the castle built in the twelfth century by the Viscounts of Trencavel. In the early thirteenth century, Carcassonne was taken by Simon de Montfort by reason of the Albigensian Crusade, to be annexed later to the royal domain. The fortification works were extended over the whole thirteenth century with the construction of the outer belt and the modernization of the inner wall, and with it the square became an impregnable fortress. Lost its strategic importance after the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. In the second half of the nineteenth century was the subject of a massive restoration effort under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, then has been inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
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