Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne, France

Fortified City of Carcassonne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:00_Carcasonne_JPG1.jpg
Author: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT


Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne of Cité de Carcasonne is a World Heritage Site in the Region of Languedoc-Roussillion in France. The area was first settled around 3500 BC. It became a Roman fort around 100 BC.

Entrance to Carcassonne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:00_Carcassonne_-_Ch%C3%A2teau_comtal_-_JPG1.jpg
Author: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT


Today Carcassonne stands as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town. It has massive defences encircling its buildings and streets. Also located within Carcassonne is its Gothic cathedral. Carcassonne plays a significant part in the history of conservation due to the lengthy restoration campaign undertaken by Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of modern conservation science, who worked on the city from 1853 until his death in 1879.

Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne was inscribed as a World Heritage Site during the 21st session of the World Heritage Committee in Naples, Italy, on 1-6 December, 1997.

Inside Carcassonne
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2005-08-24-Carcassonne-La_lice2.jpg
Author: Pinpin

World Heritage Site Inscription Details

Location: N 43 12 38 E 2 21 32
Inscription Year: 1997
Type of Site: Cultural
Inscription Criteria: II, IV

Visiting Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne

You can reach Carcassonne by taking the high-speed TGV train from Lille, Brussels, Dijon, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse.