Fabulous and unreal, the town of Carcassonne stands on a hill surrounded with vineyards. Strongest fortress in Europe, this town is a testimony to 2000 years of history. It has two concentric enclosures of about 3 kilometres long, with 26 towers outside and 26 towers inside the fortress. The city owes much to Prosper Mérimée, Cros Mayrevieille and Viollet-le-Duc, authors of its rescue and restoration.
The Porte Narbonnaise and the Comtal Castle are the town’s most beautiful jewels. The Comtal Castle, which is really a “fortress in the fortress”, has a large collection of ancient and medieval relics that come from the town and the whole region.
The town also has beautiful houses and especially the Basilica of Saint Nazaire, a former cathedral, which amazingly combines both Romanesque and Gothic art, with many stained glass windows dating back to the 13th and 15th centuries as well as a lot of sculptures.
