Carcassonne
- Written by Martin Northey
I visited Carcassonne the first time in November 2001 ( I went back for a second visit in 2007) on my way back from a trip to England. I came over the channel on the Portsmouth to Caen overnight ferry. I had a good ride across France with little traffic as it was Sunday and lorries are not allowed on the road on Sunday in France.
By late afternoon I was just north of Toulouse and stopped at a farm that advertised with a sign on the road that they had a field for camping.
The next morning I set off early for Carcassonne and arriving there an hour later was a little disappointed by what I found until I looked up to the top of a hill to the south of the town and saw the magnificent old fortified medievel town known as La Cité. After a quick cup of coffee in the town I got back on my motorbike and rode up to La Cité. If you would like to see a google map of this area click here.
(Please click on the photos below to enlarge)
Carcassonne La Cité is the most wonderful, exciting and romantic place I have ever seen, the photographs that I took which you will see above don't do it justice. There has been a settlement on this site since 3500 BC. The Romans fortified the hilltop in 100 BC and the lower part of some of the walls date from then up to 462 AD when the Romans handed over the city to the Visigoth King Theodoric II. In 410 AD Rome had been sacked by the Visigoths and it has been said that much of the treasure that the Romans took from King Solomon's temple in 70 AD and stored in Rome was then removed by the Visigoth's and taken to Carcassonne.
In 1067 AD Carcassonne became the property of Raimond Trencavel whose wife was Ermengard sister of the last Count of Carcassonne. The city remained in the Trencavel family for the next 142 years when in 1209 because so many of the people there were 'Cathars', Simon de Montfort the leader of the Albigensian crusade against the Cathars forced the inhabitants to surrender. A short time before the crusade had killed every man, women and child at Bezier just 82 kilometers away. The Catholics amongst the population of Bezier had been asked to hand over the Cathars in the town to the crusading army, they refused and so Simon de Montfort prepared to attack and asked the papal legate how they should identify the Catholics, the reply given was 'kill them all, God will know his own'. It is not surprising therefore that both Carcassonne and Narbonne surrendered without a fight.
Simon de Montfort imprisoned Raimond Trencavel in his own castle and owing to the appalling conditions in which he was kept he died a few years later. Simon de Montfort made himself Viscount of Carcassonne, Simon died in 1218 during his siege of Toulouse and his son, Amaury became Viscount of Carcassonne. In 1240 Raymond Trencavel's son tried to reconquer his father's city but failed and in 1247 the city became part of France under King Louis IX.
By 1849 the city had become a ruin and a decision was made by the French government to demolish it, this announcement caused an uproar and the decision was reversed and the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc who was already restoring the Basilica of St-Nazaire was commissioned to renovate the entire city. There was some criticism of his work at the time because in re-building the 53 towers he gave them pointed roofs whereas originally they would have had a much more gradual slope.
The overall effect however is spectacular and romantic, I spent all day in La Cité, had an excellent lunch in a restaurant, took the photographs that you see above, and then set off on the bike to find somewhere to pitch my tent. The only problem in the winter is that most camp sites are closed and so late in the afternoon set off for my next destination which was Rennes le Chateau and then Montségur. Fortunately just as it was getting dark I noticed a camp site that was open at Alet Le Bain, where I pitched my tent for the night.
Article and photos - Martin Northey
Martin Northey - RYA Yachtmaster Examiner / Instructor for Sail & Power
Tel: 00 351 965 800702.
Email: martin.northey@mail.telepac.pt
Skype: martinnorthey
Web Site: www.theiberianseaschool.com
