Carcasssone Castle

The old city of Carcasssone was built by the Romans and occupied by the Visigoths in the fifth century. Carcassone is located on a strategic site overlooking the main road between the city of Toulouse and the Mediterranean sea. Carcassone was ruled by the Trencava family early in the 13th century, the city was conquered by northern French forces. The walled form of Carcassone is roughly rectangular in shape up to 525 meters long and 250 m wide. It is surrounded by its medieval double enclousure wall the inner curtain is 1245 m length with 29 towers while the outer has 18 towers and is 1320 m long. The inner wall started by the visigoths and Roman foundation and added to by King Louis IX in the 1240s contains seventeen towers and barbicans. In the 12th century the building was described as a Palace but it was transformed into a genuine fortress when the earlist enclosure wall was consolidated and the second ramiart built. Three curtain walls were built to the south east and north of the palace proceded by a more and flanked by six round towers with the same characteristics as those of the outer wall battered bases superimposed rib-vaulted chambers and stirrup-shaped loop holes. The walls were restored by the Frank architect viollet-le-Duc in the mid-19th century.