Carcassonne: Europe's largest medieval fortress

Fifty-two towers and nearly three kilometres of double walls make Carcassonne the best-preserved medieval fortified city in Europe.

The medieval fortress, Europe's largest, is easily explored on foot.

Walking along the double walls of Carcassonne, restored in the nineteenth century by architect Viollet-le-Duc, one observes fifty-two towers built in different eras between Gallo-Roman times and the Middle Ages.

Inside the citadel, the Comtal Castle, residence of medieval viscounts, houses a lapidary museum with artifacts recovered during nineteenth-century restorations.

Just steps away, the Basilica of Saints Nazaire and Celse, both Romanesque and Gothic, preserves colored stained glass among the most ancient in the Occitania region.

Toward evening, the alleys of the citadel, now occupied by tourist shops, nonetheless offer authentic glimpses of the best-preserved medieval architecture in France.

The nineteenth-century restoration by Viollet-le-Duc, while saving Carcassonne from an already-decided demolition by the French government, also introduced some architectural liberties not always faithful to the original medieval appearance, such as the conical roofs on the towers.

Without the awareness campaign led by writer Prosper Mérimée in the mid-nineteenth century, the fortress would have been dismantled to recover its stones for building, as happened to other French fortifications of the era.