Carcassonne A Medieval City

No matter which direction you are coming from, you cant miss the imposing silhouette of the City of Carcassonne which is encircled by a huge double row of fortified walls that run almost 2 miles long, accentuated by 56 watchtowers. During the 9th and 10th centuries B.C., the village of Carcas was already a very large and active agglomeration, about a mile south of Carcassonne. Its inhabitants migrated to the present location of Carcassonne around 600 B.C. At that time, the common way to protect a city was to dig a large moat and build a very tall reinforced wood fence all around it. The 3rd century A.D. was a particularly unstable period that saw incessant Barbarian invasions. This is when Carcassonne decided to update its defense mechanisms and solidify its ramparts, building the fortified walls that we can still admire today. Rattled by another period of invasions and insecurity, the inhabitants built a second exterior wall around 1230. It took several thousand soldiers to protect the city back then. The 2000-year-old city of Carcassonne still stands today as the most successful achievement in military architecture of that time in Europe. Nothing has really changed since the 13th century, and if you find yourself in the south of France, you should not miss the chance to be carried back to the heart of the Middle Ages and feel the magic of its glorious past.