Département: Aude
Carcassonne, chief town of the département of Aude and the see of a bishop, lies in the foothills of the Pyrenees on an ancient route from the Atlantic up the Garonne valley and along the present-day Canal du Midi to the Mediterranean. The town is divided into two by the river Aude:
on the left bank is the Ville Basse, and high above the right bank is the old town, the Cité, the finest example of the medieval art of fortification in Europe. The town's economy is based on tourism and the rubber industry.
The little market town of Carcasso, lying on the road from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, was built and fortified by the Romans in the first century B.C. In the sixth century A.D. the Visigoths erected defensive towers which still survive. In the eighth century the town was captured from the Arabs by the Franks and during the Albigensian wars it was taken by Simon de Montfort. In 1229 the town, along with the county, fell to the French crown. The stronghold was enlarged by the Counts of Carcassonne, Louis IX (St Louis) and Philip the Bold, and was considered to be impregnable. It was restored by Viollet-le-Duc in the mid 19th century.
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