Languedoc Day 1 - CARCASSONNE!!

Carcassonne!! (NOT MY PHOTO)

I had played the game Carcassonne, but didn't know the game was set in a real medieval walled city until a few years ago. Some adventurous friends of ours have always had it on their bucket list of places to visit, but somehow I got there first! 

Two ladies tickled pink to be standing outside of Carcassonne

Carcassonne!!

The city was a thriving metropolis with a castle, double-walls, and loads of defensive towers built in the 11th  and 12th Centuries. Carcassonne is situated near the southern French boarder with Spain and during the middle ages was a region with a devout Cathar majority. Sadly, the city and region fell into loads of trouble with the Catholics in the 13th Century and, you know, the whole Spanish Inquisition and stuff.  

Cemetery outside of Carcassonne

Entrance gates to Carcassonne

I had to remind myself who and what the Cathars were, so I figured some of you could use a reminder as well. Here's a quick summation, amalgamated from a few separate websites:

Catharism was a Christian dualist or Gnostic revival movement that thrived in some areas of Southern Europe, particularly northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Catholic theologians debated with themselves for centuries whether Cathars were Christian heretics or whether they were not Christians at all.

Cathars were strict about biblical injunctions - notably those about living in poverty, not telling lies, not killing and not swearing oaths. However, Cathars also largely regarded men and women as equals, and had no doctrinal objection to contraception, euthanasia, or suicide. In some respects, the Cathar and Catholic Churches were similar, and in other ways polar opposites. 

Double-wall security gates and guard towers

Another view of the double-walls of Carcassonne

After hundreds of years of trials and tribulations the city of Carcassonne was no longer a defensive stronghold for anyone and by the 17th Century it had slipped into disrepair. By the early 19th Century historians felt it was worth re-building, so a lot of the crumbling defensive structures were demolished and re-built to its once former glory. Therefore, many of the outer walls and towers are only (*only*) 150+ years old, but the majority of the castle and city streets remain as they were built some 800+ years ago.  

Just a regular street in Carcassonne 

Another street

We arrived in Carcassonne several hours later than we had originally planned (too much fun wine tasting!) and found many of the locals and tourists were heading home as we arrived, as well as most of the shops were closing up for the day. This actually made for a very enjoyable walk around the streets and city since Marianne and I weren't there for shopping, anyway.  We had about an hour and a half before our group's dinner reservations, which was plenty of time to cruise the streets and see the walls and towers. 

And yet another

And another

Sadly, the castle was closed by the time we arrived; that's the only thing I regret we didn't have time to see. We could look through the gates onto the original, 12th Century castle and its courtyard, but we could get no farther.

Carcassonne Castle 

Another view of Carcassonne Castle 

Defensive fortification near castle

We also had time to go inside of the Cathedral of St. Nazaire and St. Celse, built in the 13th Century (prior to and during the beginnings of the Cathar troubles). France and the Catholic church gave Carcassonne a particularly difficult time simply because the nobleman in charge of the city and many of its Catholic clergy let the city's inhabitants practice Catharism in private as long as they showed face in church when required of them.  That didn't end well for the nobleman nor the Catholic clergy (or the Cathars). But the church they built during that time period was indeed beautiful! 

Inside the cathedral

Original 13th C Rose window in cathedral

Okay, okay! Enough already with the history bits - we also had great wine and food! A specialty of the Languedoc region is cassoulet and we went to a restaurant said to be one of the best for cassoulet in Carcassonne. It takes them 3 days to make each batch of cassoulet and it was DELICIOUS and very, very filling. I attempted to make a 6-hour version in my crock pot for Bill to try when I got home… not even close. Oh well, I tried! 

The dinner's wine

Cassoulet, a regional specialty of Carcassonne