Carcassonne
Carcassonne, along with the Canal du Midi, is the must see tourist destination in the southern Languedoc. The imposing ancient walled Cité, often claimed to be the best preserved medieval fortified town in Europe, never fails to impress from whichever direction you first see it. Set on a low hill with its massive fortifications, its many towers, its Basilica, its lovely winding cobbled street and its cafes, restaurants and shops; Carcassonne is a must see destination.
We are often asked about the history of the Cité of Carcassonne so to help you enjoy your visit here is a short introduction to the story of the ancient fortified town.
Carcassonne is the County Town (prefecture) of the Aude department. The town, is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the larger and more modern ville basse . The Cité became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
First signs of settlement in this date back to around 3500 BC, but the hill site of Carsac – a Celtic place name- became an important trading post in the 6th century BC. Carcassonne became identified with the Romans when they fortified the hilltop around 100 BC and eventually made it the fortified town of Julia Carsaco, later called Carcasum. The main part of the lower levels of the northern ramparts of the Cité date from Gallo-Roman times. In 462 the Romans officially ceded this part of Southern France to the Visigoths, who had in fact held Carcassonne since 453. They built more fortifications at Carcassonne, of which traces still stand. Saracens coming from Barcelona took Carcassonne in 725, but King Pepin the Short (Pépin le Bref) drove them away in 759-60. In 1067 Carcassonne became the property of Raimond Bernard Trencavel , viscount of Albi and Nîmes. The Trencavel family built the Château Comtal and the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire.
Carcassonne became famous for its role in the Albigensian Crusades, when the city was a stronghold of Occitan Cathars. In August 1209 the crusading army of Simon de Montfort forced its citizens to surrender, captured Raymond-Roger de Trencavel, and imprisoning him in the dungeons where he died. Montfort made himself the new viscount and further added to the fortifications. The city submitted to the rule of the kingdom of France in 1247, and King Louis IX founded the new part of the town across the river the ville basse. He and his successor Philip III built the outer ramparts to the Cité . For centuries the fortress of Carcassonne was considered impregnable and in 1355 during the Hundred Years' War, Edward the Black Prince failed to take the city, although his troops destroyed the Lower Town.
In 1659, the Treaty of Pyrenees transferred the border province of Roussillon to France, and Carcassonne's military significance was reduced. Fortifications were abandoned, and the city became mainly an economic center that concentrated on the woolen textile industry. The fortified Cité of Carcassonne fell into such disrepair that the French government decided that it should be demolished. A decree to that effect was made in 1849 causing an uproar and a campaign was mounted to preserve the fortress as a historical monument. Later in the year the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, already at work restoring the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire, was commissioned to renovate the Cité.
The restoration work began in 1853 and the fortifications were consolidated here and there but the chief attention was paid to restoring the roofing of the towers and the ramparts, where Viollet-le-Duc ordered the destruction of structures that had encroached against the walls, some of them of considerable age. On the death of Viollet-le-Duc his pupil Paul Boeswillwald, and later the architect Nodet continued the restoration of Carcassonne.
The restoration was strongly criticized during Viollet-le-Duc's lifetime. Fresh from work in the north of France, he made the error of using slates and restoring the roofs as pointed cones, where local practice was traditionally of tile roofing and low slopes, in a snow-free environment. Yet, overall, Viollet-le-Duc's achievement at Carcassonne is agreed to be a work of genius.
You may want to just enjoy a stroll around the old town under your own steam, but if you want a more structured approach then you can take a guided tour of Carcassonne. For more details contact:
Office de Tourisme - 28, rue de Verdun - 11890 Carcassonne Cédex 9
Tél : 33 (0) 468 102 430 / Fax : 33 (0)468 102 438accueil@carcassonne-tourisme.com.
Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 9am to 12am. Or visit the Tourist office within the walls of the Cité just inside the main entrance at the Narbonnaise Gate.
If you are visiting during the busy summer months our tip is to go early or late in the day when it’s not so busy and the temperature is more amenable. We love to visit in the spring and autumn, when it’s quieter and you can really enjoy the ambience.
L’Oulibo Olive Co-operative
Just outside the village of Bize Minervois is the only Olive Cooperative in the Department of l’Aude. L’Oulibo is well worth a visit at any time of the year, but particularly between September and January, when on most days you can see the stone olive mills at work crushing the whole olives and extracting the olive oil.
L’Oulibo specialises in local Southern French varieties of olives and olive oil. Foremost amongst these is the Lucque, a variety only grown in the Languedoc. In our, albeit rather biased opinion, it is the best cocktail olive in the world. It has a characteristic crescent moon shape and firm flesh with a mild nutty flavour that is considerably less salty than most olives. You will find Lucques for sale in many local shops and as an appetiser in local restaurants. We particularly like the ‘fresh’ Lucque cocktail olives from the most recent harvest which have to be kept refrigerated to retain their freshness. The other jewel in the crown of the L’Oulibo is the Picholene olive, perhaps the best known of all France’s olives and usually associated with Provence, it grows very well in the Languedoc. It is small with firm flesh and is well known for its delicately flavoured olive oil.
All the olives for the cooperative are grown locally by growers, both large and small, who bring their olives to be pressed, or prepared as cocktail olives throughout the autumn. L’Oulibo produces a wide range of olive products with green and black cocktail olives in a number of different preparations, plain, stuffed with peppers or anchovies and as single varieties. Olive oil is available as a single ‘cru’ produced in small quantities from a named olive variety, again try the lucque or picholene oils, or in larger quantities of mixed variety extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil . Take advantage of the olive oil degustation that is offered at L’Oulibo and sample a whole range of different olive oils, you will be surprised at how different they taste.
You can also purchase tapenades (a paté made from ground olives), olive soap and shampoo and a range of olive based gifts at the impressive visitors centre.
You can find the cooperative T Hameau de Cabezac – 11120 BIZE MINERVOIS Tel: 00 33 4 68 41 88 88 or contact@loulibo.com or visit www.loulibo.com
