Carcassonne

Carcassonne (French: Carcassonne, Occitan: Carcassonne) is a French commune, capital of the Aude department, in the Occitanie region. The city is known for its walled citadel, a medieval architectural complex restored by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Geography

Situation

Location

The city is located in the south of France, halfway between Narbonne and Toulouse, about 80 km east of this city. Its strategic location on the route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean has been known since the Neolithic. The city has the Black Mountain to the north, the Corbières to the east, the Lauragais plain to the west and the Aude valley to the south. This natural region is known as Carcassès.

The area of the commune is 65 km², which makes it a large commune compared to numerous small communes in the Aude. The neighboring communes are Pennautier, Villemoustaussou, Villalier, Berriac, Villedubert, Trèbes, Montirat, Palaja, Cazilhac, Lavalette, Roullens, Caux-et-Sauzens and Pezens.

Climate

The Carcassonne-Salvaza meteorological station has been measuring various meteorological parameters daily since 1948. But measurements have been made regularly since 1849 at the initiative of Don de Cépian, an engineer from the department, who placed a rain gauge in Carcassonne. Théodore Rousseau took charge in 1873, and later in 1897, of the bridges and pavements and of the Carcassonne school until 1914. These donations make it possible to know the weather conditions since the end of the century XIX.

According to the Köppen classification, the climate is of the cfa or pampas type. This is an exception in metropolitan France, where the climate is mostly of the cfb or csa type, except in the higher altitude regions.

• The letter c indicates that it is a temperate climate: the average temperature is higher than -3 °C during the cold season.
• The letter f indicates that this is a wet climate: rains are distributed throughout the year. In fact, despite a relatively dry month of July, the difference between the rainiest month and the rainiest month is not enough to really talk about dry season.
• The letter a indicates that there is a hot summer: the month of July has an average temperature above 22 °C.

The climate of Carcassonne is characterized by relatively hot summers, with a dry and hot month of July, with a drought situation; mild autumns and winters with relatively infrequent frosts. The rains are distributed more or less equally between the month of October and the month of May.

Snow is rare, it falls on average seven days a year between December and March, and melts very quickly. The amount of sunshine is quite balanced, on average 2,119 hours per year in the period 1981-2010.

Precipitation is more intense in autumn in the month of October, and in spring in the month of April. Summer rains are in the form of sometimes violent storms that turn into hailstorms that are fatal to the vines.

The wind is very present in Carcassonne, with an average of more than 117 days a year with winds of more than 55 km/h and increasing. They are easterly winds, sea winds or westerly winds, called Cers.

Carcassonne suffered several floods from the Aude in 1872 and 1875. The floods of 1891 were among the most important with a flood of eight meters of water that invaded the entire city center. In August 1912, Carcassonne was hit by a tornado causing numerous damages: cuts, destroyed roofs, etc.

Carcassone average climate parameters (normals 1981–2010)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	21.1	25.2	27.3	31.0	35.2	40.7	40.2	41.9	36.4	31.0	26.2	22.4	41.9
Average temperature (°C)	9.7	11.1	14.4	17.0	21.0	25.4	28.6	28.3	24.5	19.3	13.5	10.2	18.6
Temp. medium (°C)	3.1	3.5	5.6	7.7	11.4	14.8	17.2	17.0	14.0	11.2	6.6	3.8	9.7
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-12.5	-15.2	-7.5	-1.6	0.9	6.0	8.4	8.2	2.9	-2.0	-6.8	-12.0	-15.2
Total precipitation (mm)	69.3	54.1	54.3	73.1	56.7	45.9	28.5	42.6	42.5	59.5	59.5	62.5	648.5
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	9.4	7.9	8.0	9.5	7.5	5.0	4.1	5.5	5.4	7.8	8.7	8.8	87.5
Days of snowfall (≥ 1 mm)	2.1	2.1	0.9	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.4	7.4
Hours of sun	97.2	119.6	172.6	188.1	214.7	239.7	275.4	260.4	212.9	144.6	102.5	91.6	2119.3
Relative humidity (%)	82	79	74	74	72	69	64	68	73	80	82	84	75.1
Source No. 1: Météo France
Source No. 2: Infoclimat.fr (smoke and snow days 1961–1990)

Transportation

Carcassonne is located on the main axis of communication between Toulouse and the Mediterranean coast. The Canal du Midi, dating back to the 17th century, was once a heavily used river hub. Currently, the autoroute des Deux Mers and more specifically the eastern section of the A61, which passes south of the city, allows direct access from Toulouse or Montpellier. There are two exits (23 and 24) towards the commune. In the secondary network, the secondary road 6113 (the former national road 113) passes through Carcassonne and allows you to reach Toulouse in the west and Narbonne in the east. To the south, secondary road 118 takes you to Limoux and Quillan. To the north, this same secondary road continues through the Black Mountain and reaches Mazamet.

Carcassonne can also be accessed by train thanks to the Toulouse-Sète connection, passing through Narbonne. The city is also connected to Quillan via a restored section of the old Carcassonne-Rivesaltes line.

The construction of the Carcassonne station marks the beginning of tourism in the citadel of Carcassonne. The Terminus hotel, inaugurated in 1914 by the architect Belin, is a remarkable building in the station neighborhood that has taken advantage of this tourist influx to develop.

Carcassonne Salvaza Airport, renamed "Carcassonne Airport in Pays Cathare - Sud de France" (in Spanish: "Carcassonne Airport in Cathar Country - South of France") in 2010, is located west of the city in the Salvaza area. It allows you to fly to England (London, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Nottingham), Ireland (Dublin, Cork), Scotland (Glasgow), Belgium (Charleroi), Denmark (Billund) and Portugal (Oporto) with the airline Ryanair. In 2002, several works have allowed the main runway to be lengthened in order to receive larger aircraft. The airport received 426,798 passengers in 2006, 466,305 in 2007, 444,702 in 2008 and 452,158 in 2009. In 2010, major works take place to increase the airport's capacity, with the creation of a new parking area that It allows for the simultaneous accommodation of 4 aircraft, the construction of a new fire station, the renewal of operating equipment, the creation of a new hangar, the adaptation of the terminals to guarantee the route of passengers and larger boarding rooms.

In the city center, the car is the most used means of transportation among citizens. Traffic during rush hour becomes quite difficult, especially in summer with the influx of tourists. Secondary road 6113 (formerly national road 113), which heads directly to the city, is often very congested. A first section was built in 1980 with the western bypass that allows the exit of Highway 23 and secondary road 6113. The northeastern bypass has been open since December 18, 2008 and allows traffic to be diverted from secondary road 6113 thanks to an avoidance to the north. These works required the construction of a viaduct over the Aude and three bridges. In the city center, three underground car parks (the André-Chénier car park, with 340 spaces; the Jacobins car park, with 211 spaces and more Late on February 25, 2008, the Gambetta car park (with 403 spaces) can accommodate up to 954 vehicles. The planning of the Gambetta square esplanade is currently completed.

As for public transport, eleven bus lines cross the city of Carcassonne and connect the entire city with Carcassonne airport. The company Agglo'Bus manages the entire fleet of buses in the Carcassonne conurbation. During the summer period, the Saint-Louis bastide is served by small free electric transports called “les Toucs”.

Demography

The population of Carcassonne was 47,854 inhabitants (in 2009), with 735 inhabitants/km² it is the city with the highest population density in the department of Aude. However, this density is much lower than cities such as Toulon, Montpellier or Perpignan. It is also the most populated urban area in the department with 90,947 inhabitants covering 61 communes.

The demographic trends of the city are regular and increasing since the 19th century, going from 15,219 inhabitants in 1800 to 47 854 in 2009. In 1968 the total population was 43 616 inhabitants and was reduced to 41 153 in 1982. This decrease in population is explained by the negative net migration to the cities of Toulouse or Montpellier in which the economy and employment are more attractive. However, since 1982 the population has increased again since it has grown from 41,153 inhabitants in 1982 to 47,854 in 2009.

History

Around 800 BC. C., the city, located on a hill, became an important center of commercial exchange. Since pre-Roman times there have been fortifications on the hill now occupied by Carcassonne. The oldest known occupation of the site dates back to the VI century BC. C., with the construction of a fortress (oppidum) on the rocky promontory that dominates the Aude valley and the old roads from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and link the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe. In the year 27 BC, this population, Carcaso Volcarum Tectosagum, became the colony Iulia Carcaso. During the turbulent years of the late III and early 4th centuries, the city protected itself with the construction of a wall of about 1200 m long. The fortification consisted of two lines of walls and a castle, itself surrounded by fortifications extending a total length of 3 km. The route, largely following the Roman wall, is clearly visible for two-thirds of its length. The Roman walls were reinforced with horseshoe-shaped bastions located at regular intervals. The construction technique is typical of the late Roman period: a masonry core covered with cut stone, alternating with sections of brick, all on solid foundations. The Narbonne Gate, to the east, and the Aude Gate, to the west, are particularly elaborate defensive elements.

Carcassonne became strategically important from the moment the Romans fortified the top of the hill, around 100 BC. C. and they made it the administrative center of the colony of Iulia Carcaso, later called Carcasum and Carcasso. Most of the northern walls are from that period.

In the V century, the Visigoths occupied the city and built more fortifications that still remain. In 550 the diocese of Carcassonne was established. They successfully repelled the attacks of the Franks. The Muslims took the city in the year 725 but King Pepin the Short expelled them in 759, ceding it to Bellón, the mythical first count of Carcassonne and founder of the dynastic branches of the count houses of Barcelona and others of Occitania and a descendant of the Visigothic nobility. The county would be inherited in the first instance by his son Guisclafred I of Carcassonne, in the year 810, who died without issue. It then passed into the hands of his brother Oliba I, who also ruled Razes. Upon his death he was succeeded by his son, Acfred I of Carcassonne.

In 1067, through a marriage union, Carcassonne became the property of Raymond Bernard Trencavel, viscount of Albi and Nimes. In the following centuries, the Trencavels allied themselves sometimes with the Counts of Barcelona, other times with those of Tolosa. For example, at the end of the 12th century, the Viscount of Carcassonne was a feudatory of the King of Aragon, Alfonso II. The Trencavels built the county castle and the basilica of San Nazario.

Carcassonne is famous for its role during the crusade against the Albigensians, when the city was a fiefdom of the Cathars. In August 1209, Simon de Montfort's crusader army forced the city's surrender after a fifteen-day siege. He took Raimundo Roger Trencavel as a prisoner and became the new viscount. He expanded the fortifications and Carcassonne became a citadel on the border between France and the Crown of Aragon. In the year 1213, the battle of Muret, won by Simon de Montfort against King Peter II of Aragon, marked the prelude to the domination of the kings of France over Occitania.

In 1240, Ramón Trencavel II, son of Ramón Roger Trencavel, tried to reconquer his former domains, but he did not succeed, and was expelled along with the citizens who supported him in the revolt. The city definitively came under the control of the king of France in 1247, when Ramón Trencavel II formally renounced the title of viscount, handing over his family seal. Louis IX then forgave the people who supported the revolt and allowed them to return to Carcassonne on the condition that they remain on the western bank of the river, founding the new part of the city at the foot of the hill, called the Lower Town or Bastide of Saint Louis. Louis and his successor, Philip III, built the outer fortifications. At that time, the fortress was considered impregnable. During the Hundred Years' War, Edward, the Black Prince, failed to take the upper fortress in 1355, although his troops did manage to take the lower town, which they sacked.

In 1622, a few days after Louis XIII's visit to the city, a fire broke out that largely destroyed it.

In 1659, by the Treaty of the Pyrenees, the border province of Roussillon passed into the hands of France and the military importance of Carcassonne was reduced. The fortifications were abandoned and the city became an economic center, basically concentrated on the textile industry.

20th century

In 1907, Carcassonne winegrowers participated in the winegrowers' revolt to denounce the problems affecting viticulture in Languedoc. The continuous fraud and fraud of various producers and merchants, overproduction, mildew and competition provoked anger and demands to the State (which at first did not react) to implement regulations on vineyard production. In September 2007, Carcassonne hosted the Confédération générale des vignerons du Midi, the first trade union that emerged in 1907 as a result of the conflict.

After the defeat of France at the beginning of World War II, Carcassonne remained in the area controlled by the Vichy regime. However, this area was occupied by German troops on November 11, 1942. At the beginning of 1944, the German army occupied the county castle, using it as an ammunition depot.

Heraldry

Blasón	Title	Comments
	Commune shield	It is the result of a restructuring of antique blazones other than the high city and lower city.
	High city shield	It represents power.
	Shield of the lower city	It represents the powerful wool industry in the lower city.

Policy and administration

Carcassonne is chef-lieu of four cantons:

• The canton of Carcassonne-Center: encompassing a part of the city (12,124 inhabitants).
• The canton of Carcassonne-Este: which groups a part of Carcassonne together with the communes of Berriac, Cavanac, Cazilhac, Couffoulens, Leuc, Mas-des-Cours and Palaja (21.022 inhabitants).
• The canton of Carcassonne-Norte: formed by a part of Carcassonne and the commune of Pennautier (15.019 inhabitants).
• The canton of Carcassonne-South: which is confined to a part of the city (9,252 inhabitants).

Likewise, Carcassonne is the prefecture of the department of Aude, whose headquarters are located in a building from 1760 in the Louis XV style. The city is part of the first constituency of said department, made up of ten cantons and 99,717 voters.

Carcassonne is home to the headquarters of numerous administrations and public services: a post office (40, rue Jean-Bringer), a police office, a direction départementale des renseignements géneraux (departmental office of the intelligence services), a republican security company, a gendarmerie corps, a customs post at the Carcassonne Salvaza airport, a treasury delegation, as well as a fire brigade. Other public services available in Carcassonne are a Social Security centre, an agence nationale pour l'emploi (ANPE, the French national employment office), a customer service desk of EDF-GDF and the caisse d& #39;allocation familialede Aude.

The city is part of the jurisdiction of instance, grand instance and commerce of Carcassonne, as well as the court of appeal of Montpellier. In turn, it has its own courthouse, located on Boulevard Jean Jaurès. In addition, the army enjoys great importance in Carcassonne, since it houses several detachments of the Army: the third regiment of parachute marines, a departmental military delegation of Aude and the information and recruitment center of the Army..

Economy

In the 18th century, the city was a great manufacturing center thanks to textile production of all kinds. Today, Carcassonne lives off local trade linked to tourism and its administrative functions. It is also the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Carcassonne-Limoux-Castelnaudary (Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Carcassonne-Limoux-Castelnaudary).

Trade

The secondary sector is unimportant, heavy industry non-existent and the city tries to attract new industries. There are some agro-food companies such as BONCOLAC-PILPA (ice cream manufacturing), the UCCOAR group (bottling company), whose turnover is 92 million euros, and Aude Coop (Coopérative des producteurs du terroir d'Oc).

Crafts are present in Carcassonne with 936 companies employing 2,700 workers. Agriculture is poorly represented and is mainly limited to viticulture. Tourism is also an important economic activity thanks to the global attraction produced by the citadel of Carcassonne and the Canal du Midi. It represents an employment rate comparable to that of the Languedoc-Roussillon coast.

The municipality has developed its offer to visitors with numerous restaurants and 1,200 rooms spread across 34 establishments, among which are two luxury hotels, one five star, the hôtel de la Cité, and one with four stars, the Domaine d'Auriac. Carcassonne also has a three-star campsite and numerous rural houses. In the center of the citadel there is also a youth hostel.

As in the rest of France, small businesses have suffered a decline compared to large shopping centres. Large stores gained 14.1 jobs per 1,000 inhabitants between 1975 and 1999 at the same time that small businesses lost 16.1 per 1,000. In any case, small businesses continue to be the majority with 68% of jobs in commerce, while large stores represented 32% in the group of municipalities within a 25 km radius around Carcassonne.

Employment

Agriculture has a low proportion of jobs in Carcassonne with 1.9%. This employment sector has suffered a significant decline since 1990, as in a good part of France. Industry and construction also represent a small percentage with 7.7 and 5.5% respectively. These rates are the result of several years of deindustrialization such as in Limoux. The tertiary sector represents practically all employment with a rate of 85%. The percentage of the population that has higher education is 17.4%, compared to 18.1% on average in metropolitan France. The unemployment rate is 10.6% (according to 2005 estimates), slightly higher than the national average (9.6%), and the average income per family is about €13,650 per year, while the national average is €20,363 per year.

In 1999, 85.8% of the active population of Carcassonne who had a job worked in the municipality. Most of the workers did so in Carcassonne since most of the jobs are located in the city. of work in the region. 74% of workers used their private car to travel between their home and their workplace. Carcassonne has quite a few traffic problems and public transport is not very developed, which favors the use of private means of transport.

Viticulture

Although with a serious setback, the commune of Carcassonne has a long tradition in viticulture, with several thousand hectares dedicated to the cultivation of vines. In 1981, the vin de pays de Cité de Carcassonne was recognized as a protected Geographical Indication wine, also called cité-de-carcassonne since 2009.

Education

Carcassonne has sixteen preschool schools (maternelle), fourteen primary schools (élémentaire) and four primary schools (primaire).. This represents 4,250 students in public schools and 750 in private schools. The city has six public schools: André-Chenier, de Grazailles, Émile-Alain, Jules-Verne (formerly "la conte"), Bastion and Varsovie; and four public institutes: Charles-Cros, lycée agricole Charlemagne, Jules-Fil and Paul-Sabatier.

The municipality has three other private centers: the Jeanne-d'Arc school, the Saint-Stanislas institute and the Saint-François vocational training institute.

In the town there are also some higher education centers, such as a Nursing Training Institute, a headquarters of the École nationale de l'aviation civile, an Institut universitaire de formation des maîtres and an Institut universitaire de technologie in “statistics and computer data processing” and in “trade techniques”.

Culture and heritage

Places of interest

The Citadel

The historic fortified city of Carcassonne on the right bank of the Aude, usually and popularly called simply the Cité, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. It is listed as a Grand Site National, and its castle and walls as a Historical Monument by the French state, being one of the most visited tourist centers in France.

The fortified part of Carcassonne became so deteriorated that the French state seriously considered demolishing the walls. To this end, an official decree was drawn up in 1849, which caused a stir: the historian Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille and the writer Prosper Mérimée promoted a campaign to preserve the fortress as a Historical Monument. That same year, the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was commissioned to renovate the upper city.

The defensive character of the Cité throughout its history has influenced the complexity of its architecture, which notably reflects military art. Its defense system is exceptional due to its dimensions and constitutes the greatest strength in Europe due to its complexity and the quality of its conservation.

County Castle

Located in the Cité of Carcassonne, the county castle, built on a domus from the I century, was the fortress that It housed the Viscounts of Carcassonne. Built at the beginning of the XII century, it underwent several subsequent modifications, highlighting the one in 1229 where, by order of the kingdom of France, becomes seneschal. From 1240 to 1250, significant work was carried out to strengthen the wall, incorporating more round towers, the advanced barbican to the gatehouse and the moat.

Saint-Nazaire Basilica

It was formerly the cathedral of Carcassonne, until 1801, when it was replaced by the current Cathedral located in the lower city or borough of Saint-Michel (Saint-Michel Cathedral of Carcassonne). The current church is of Romanesque origin from the 11th century, consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. It was built on the site of a Carolingian cathedral, of which no trace remains today. The church was enlarged between 1269 and 1330 in the Gothic style, then predominant in France, largely at the expense of the bishop of Carcassonne, Pierre de Rochefort.

Carcassonne Cathedral

Carcassonne Cathedral was built in the 13th century in Gothic style as a church by order of Saint Louis of France in the bastide. After serious damage suffered in the 14th century, it was rebuilt and fortified.

In 1803 it was elevated to the rank of cathedral, replacing the Saint-Nazaire cathedral, located in the Cité.

It is a historical monument of France and seat of the bishopric of Carcassonne.

Canal du Midi

Originally called Royal Canal of Languedoc, it is a navigable waterway in France that links the Garonne River in Toulouse with the Mediterranean Sea. It forms, together with the lateral canal of the Garonne (which connects Toulouse and Bordeaux), the so-called Canal of the Two Seas that connects the Atlantic to the Mediterranean by river, being extended at its origin by the canal from the Rhône to Sète. It is the oldest operating navigable canal in Europe.

Since 1996 it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Parks and gardens

The city has numerous green spaces among which it is worth highlighting:

• The Maria-et-Pierre-Sire Garden is a green space located in front of the administrative buildings of the Trivalle district, at the foot of the Aude Bridge. Her name refers to two well-known Carcassonne writers, Pierre Sire, a primary teacher, and Maria Sire, director of the Cité school. The garden, built in the centuryXX.He has a trail in his memory.
• The André-Chénier garden, located between the canal du Midi and the national highway 113 in front of the SNCF station. It dates from 1821 and commemorates the abdication of Napoleon and the entrance of Louis XVIII of France in Paris.

Carcassonne has the "two flowers" category as ville fleurie awarded by the Conseil national des villes et villages fleuris de France.

Cultural heritage

The city of Carcassonne has several buildings and facilities designed to promote culture.

Museums

The Museum of Fine Arts of Carcassonne is located in the former Présidial on the plane-lined boulevards of the lower town or bastide Bait-Michel. It offers a collection of Western paintings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a collection of earthenware, another of tapestry and various art objects.

Among the objects it houses, it is worth highlighting a spyglass owned by Napoleon that he used during his return trip from the island of Elba in 1815. The object had been forgotten in a warehouse in the museum's archive after a fire in 1942. It was found again in January 2011 thanks to the historian Alain Pignon after several readings and research on the emperor and specifically after investigating the note found in a book by Jean Amiel:

« Le musée de Carcassonne possède une longue-vue dont se servit Napoléon Ier pour s'assurer de la marche d'une partie de sa flottille pendant la nuit du 28 février au 1er mars 1815 ».

The Carcassonne Museum hosts a delight used by Napoleon I to take care of the march of a part of its fleet during the night of 28 February to 1 March 1815

The School Museum of the City of Carcassonne brings together all the objects and collections from the Aude schools. This museum honors the pioneer schools of this province.

It consists of five rooms. Room 1 is dedicated to Jules Ferry (his portrait of him is on the central display case) and covers various themes. You can see: registration numbers prior to the reforms (1871), school schedules and calendars (it is interesting to mention the short length of vacations), examples of the rules that public schools had, the treatment of topics which are particularly developed such as hygiene, the fight against alcoholism, the French language (as opposed to the regional language, which at that time should not have been spoken), photographs showing male and female students dressed in black or gray blouses, the obligatory school uniform, and the teachers with jackets and pants nicknamed "the black hussars of the Third Republic", the rewards and diplomas (you can see the first "certificat d'études of Carcassonne in 1882), and school books such as "Le tour de la France par deux enfants" which tells the journey of two children through France in which they discover geography. history, agriculture... (more than 7.5 copies were sold before 1914). Room 2 is an exact reconstruction of a classroom in a town where only one teacher taught all the students who were of different levels. You can see the stove, desks, inkwells, school supplies (even donkey ears), wall maps and paintings. All of this is authentic. Room 3 offers the possibility of sitting in a typical public school class and writing with the old quills and the famous violet ink, on sheets of blotting paper. Room 4 is called School Battalions! Here the sense of duty and patriotism that existed as a consequence of the loss in 1870 of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine is reflected. All the students in France were trained for revenge. Room 5 is a primary school library.

Library

The library, since January 2010 under the supervision of the communauté d'agglomération du Carcassonnais, has several ancient documents in its collections. It houses, for example, the only known manuscript of the Occitan novel Flamenca, considered a prototype of courtly love, or the archives of the philosopher Ferdinand Alquié.

Theaters, cinemas, nightclubs

In the city there are two theaters, the Jean-Deschamps theater, located in the center of the open-air Cité, is a privileged performance venue for the city festival that takes place every summer, and the Jean municipal theater -Alary, a sober and functional building built in 1933 by the architects R. Esparseil and M. Oudin on the site where the old Dominican convent was located, offers various functions throughout the year. It is an urban estate classified as a historical monument of France.

There are two other performance halls: the auditorium, in the old chapel of the Jesuit college and the Chapeau rouge, at the foot of the walled city.

Carcassonne has five cinemas in the city center and a multi-centre with nine screens, managed by the company Cap Cinéma Carcassonne. The Coliseum cinema is essentially dedicated to art and film, and in the multiplex complex there is also a daycare center, several restaurants and a bowling alley, among others.

Gastronomy

The gastronomy of Carcassonne is characterized by being a typical cuisine of the French southwest, which has among its most important resources agricultural products such as poultry and vegetables. In this sense, some of the typical Carcassonne dishes such as jambonneau, confit poultry gizzards, duck and goose confit, petits carcassonnais or chocolates, the pavés, the grès and the briques of the Citadel can be tasted in the city itself. The petits carcassonnais as well as the rest of the characteristic specialties of the Citadel, they are sweets based on sugar or chocolate that can be found in the shops located in the fortified complex itself. The region in which Carcassonne is located has, in turn, a wide variety of characteristic dishes such as foie, artichoke salad, cassoulet (stew made with white beans and different parts of animal meat) and bean fricassés. The cassoulet of Carcassonne differs from its counterparts in Castelnaudary and Toulouse by its partridge meat. Other specialties that can also be found in Carcassonne are already typical of Languedoc, such as snails à la Languedocienne (accompanied by onion, ham, tomatoes and persillade), the bourride de Bages, bouillabaisses and flan from Saint-Jean-de-Minervois. Several vineyards located around Carcassonne produce wines that are used in many typical dishes such as daubes or civets i> with Corbières or Minervois wine. In this way, Carcassonne is surrounded by four wine-growing appellations of origin: Cabardès (north), Corbières (south-east), Côtes de la Malepère (on the outskirts of Carcassonne) and Minervois (north-east). On the other hand, the Sabatier distillery, Founded by Michel Sabatier in 1885, it manufactured Michelina, a liqueur, and Or-Kina, an aperitif. As of 2008, they are produced by the Cabanel house.

Popular culture

• The siege Carcassonne suffered during the albigense crusade is reported in the novel Imperator (2010) by Isabel San Sebastian.
• The fortified city has served as inspiration for the Carcassonne table game.

Twinning cities

• Baeza, Spain
• Eggenfelden (Germany)

Twinning project:

• Castellar del Vallés (Spain)
• Tallinn (Estonia)
• Salamanca, Spain
• Cuenca, Spain
• Binche (Belgium)
• Essaouira (Morocco)
• Tipasa (Algeria)
• Suzhou, China
• Xi'an (China)
• Venice, Italy