May 10, 2024:
After a long drive from Domme, France, we arrived in Carcassonne in the late afternoon, hoping that the time would make it easier to park and visit La Cité Médiévale, Carassonne, France without the crowds. Alas, to our dismay, all the parking for the Narbonnaise and St. Nazaire gates were full, and we were lucky to find a pay parking place in the Porte d’Aude Car Park, a 9-minute walk uphill into Porte de l’Aude and La Cité Médiévale (La Cité).
Carcassonne – Le Porte de l’Aude
Aerial View of Carcassonne – Photo: Pinterest
Carcassonne at night – Photo: ephotozine.com
When we arrived at La Cité, we saw why there was no close parking. The entire place was packed with people. This ultimately meant, due to our time constraints, that we missed the traditional tourist entrance at the Porte Narbonnaise and the statue of Dame Carcas, who legends says saved the city during a siege by throwing a pig over the walls (Nancy and I saw these on a previous trip to France). The attackers gave up the siege when they saw that the city could afford to discard a pig…
Narbonnaise Gate – Wikimedia – Jean-Christophe BENOIST
Dame Carcas – Wikimedia – Dennis Jarvis
However, we were in time to see the “castle within the castle”, the Château Comtal (and Rampart walk) – open daily, 10 am – 5:45 pm (last entry to the Château Comtal 75 minutes before closing (5 pm), but you can enter the ramparts after the Château Comtal closes (€6.50, daily until 5:45 pm); and the Basilique Saint Nazaire – open Monday – Saturday, 9 am – 11:45 am and 1:45 pm – 6 pm; Sunday, 9 am – 10:45 am, 2 pm – 6 pm.
There were long lines for the Château Comtal (and Rampart walk), so we had to purchase timed-entry tickets online in advance – €11 per person; +33 4 68 11 70 70, www.remparts-carcassonne.fr.
Château Comtal Aerial View – Google Earth
While waiting for our entry into the Château Comtal, we toured the nearby Place du Château, where we saw a statue honoring Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, the man who saved La Cité from deterioration and neglect in the 19th century (he was helped by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who restored Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral). The base of the Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevielle statue has a bronze model of La Cité before its 19th century restoration.
Statue of Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille – Place du Château – Carcassonne
The Carpe Diem sundial over La Taverne du Château in the Place du Château was made in 1961 by the eminent French gnomonist René R. J. Rohr.
The Roman inscriptions translate as follows:
– Carpe Diem – Seize the Day
– ANNO DMI MCMLXI [Anno Domini MCMLXI] – The year 1961 of Our Lord
– HORAE / DIES – Hours / Day
– RRJ ROHR FECIT – Made by René R. J. Rohr
The conversion table at the bottom right allows it to be used as a moon dial.
Sundial – Place du Château – Carcassonne
We also saw the well in the nearby Place du Grand Puits – This huge well is the oldest of Carcassonne’s 22 wells.
Carcassonne – Well – Place du Grande Puits
Next we took a quick tour of the Basilique Saint Nazaire and marveled at the gargoyles surrounding the building.
Basilique Saint Nazaire – Wikimedia – Jean-Pol GRANDMONT
St. Nazaire Gargoyles
St. Nazaire interior
On the way back to our Château Comtal timed-entry tour we noticed a medieval flatiron building. The surviving timbers were well worn and you could clearly see medieval wattle-and-daub construction (spaces between the oak posts were filled in with twigs and sticks, then finished with a layer of clay, mud, or dung).
Medieval Flatiron Building – Google Street View
Medieval flatiron building – medieval wattle-and-daub construction – Google Street View
We now started our timed-entry tour of the Château Comtal.
Map of Château Comtal
In 1067, the Trencavel family, nobility from south-eastern France, received the viscounty of Carcassonne. Over the years, they ordered the construction of numerous buildings, including the palatium, a seigneurial residence, around 1130.
Built on the Gallo-Roman rampart, during the 12th century, the palatium was progressively enriched by several extensions, including the chapel of Sainte-Marie to the north and a new wing to the south. The Trencavels were determined to make Carcassonne the centerpiece of their estate. This residence was both the seat and symbol of their feudal power.
During the Albigensian Crusade (1209), the residence was fortified. Crenellations were added to the roofs, turning them into firing posts. On the western flank, the Pinte tower (Watchtower) was raised to provide better surveillance of the surrounding area. It became the tallest tower in the fortress, a way for the owners to reassert their power.
Later, in the 13th century, the construction of a second rampart completed the transformation of the original palatium into a fortified castle.
Tour of the Château Comtal: We started our tour by entering the Barbican Gate.
Barbican Gate – Flickr – Jassy-50
Once inside the Barbican gate, we viewed the barbican, the drawbridge to the Château Comtal, and the moat (there was no barbican garden to be found).
Drawbridge over the moat to the Château Comtal – Wikimedia – App1990
Once inside the Château Comtal, we entered the main courtyard (the northwest area used to contain a chapel).
Château Comtal – Main Courtyard
Exiting the courtyard at the south end, we entered the Model Room, which contains a 1/100th scale wooden model replica of the fortifications of La Cité of Carcassonne. It was made by a craftsman from Carcassonne, Louis Lacombe (1856-1933) nicknamed “Cigalet” who devoted 40 years of his leisure time to its creation. The model was classified as a historical monument on April 4, 1961. It includes the enclosures, the gates, the extension to the barbican, the western barbican destroyed in 1816, the count’s castle, the church and the theatre. The interior of La Cité is not reconstructed, which gives a false impression of an interior hollow.
Model of Carcassonne – Photo: Centre des Monuments
Portrait of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who helped Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille restore La Cité Médiévale in the 19th century
From the Model Room, we followed the crowds around the south side courtyard fortification, which has its own well.
Well in the south-side fortification
Southside courtyard fortification and the Tour Pinte (Watchtower)
– the highest tower in La Cité – Photo: shannonchance.net
Next, we passed through the area where the prior mechanisms of the east towers/main entrance gate were located. This gate to the castle is flanked by two twin towers connected by a gatehouse. Inside the first two floors, an assommoir (opening made in the vault of the ceiling of a covered passage), allowed projectiles to be thrown at attackers and a herse (sliding iron grille in the side grooves of gates of a fortified castle) constituted the front and rear defense of the main entrance. The third floor allowed the defenders to access the crenellation. On the ground floor, a double door also protected access to the interior of the castle.
Emplacement of the herse and the assommoir – Photo: TripAdvisor
We then viewed the various towers located around the main courtyard of the Château Comtal. The Barracks Tower, with wooden galleries (or hourdes) surrounding it, had openings (mâchicoulis) which allowed defenders to throw stone balls down on attackers.
Wooden hourdes surrounding the Barracks Tower
Mâchicoulis – Openings in the floor which allowed defenders to throw stone balls down on attackers
The next two towers we visited (the Class Tower and the Chapel Tower) gave us excellent views to the north from the Château Comtal as well as the main courtyard and Barracks Tower.
View of the Barracks Tower from the Class Tower
Arrow slit – Class Tower
Interior of Chapel Tower – Photo: stephanecompoint.com
We now entered the Château Comtal Museum. The first room, the Pierre Embry Room, had sculpted modillions representing men and women who lived in La Cité or its villages in the Middle Ages. They were perhaps craftsmen or traders and worked in their shops, their stalls or in the street.
Modillion – Photo: Centre Des Monuments
The room also contained the well-worn original model of Dame Carcas.
Original model of Dame Carcas (the one at the Narbonnaise gate is a duplicate)
In the next room, the Gothic Room, modillions, stone cannonballs, a font, Gothic windows from a private mansion in the bastide Saint-Louis, capitals, tombstones, keystones and sculptures were exhibited.
Gothic Room – Wikimedia – Dennis Jarvis
Modillions
Stone cannonballs
The recumbent figure in the room (gisant) is of a knight from the end of the 13th century. It is made of sandstone and comes from the abbey of Lagrasse (Aude). He is represented lying down, an animal at his feet (probably a lion), the sword on his left side. He is dressed in chain mail, a surcoat (outer dress worn by men and women) which bears his coat of arms, a camail (mesh hood worn under the helmet) and a hauberk (long chain mail for men-at-arms).
Gisant (recumbent knight)
The next room, The Keep, is the most important room in the castle.
In this vaulted room, the camera rotunda, meetings were held and important documents were written or signed. Troubadours and jugglers were welcomed there, as scenes in the medieval mural in the room seem to attest.
Discovered in 1926 by Pierre Embry under a lime wash, the mural paintings date from the end of the 12th century. The main scene represents the fight between Christian knights and Saracens.
Mural paintings in The Keep
Statues – The Keep – Photo: FrenchMoments.eu
We continued on to the Romanesque Room, highlighted by a fountain in the middle.
The Romanesque Room – The fountain of ablution
Our tour was done (at least we thought it was) – turns out we were just beginning – now we were required to “walk the ramparts” from the Château Comtal to the St. Nazaire Gate.
“Walking the Ramparts” between the Château Comtal and the St. Nazaire Gate
After all this “walking” (actually a lot of climbing up and down steps), we all needed a good drink, so we made our way to the Hôtel de la Cité and their beautiful outdoor patio.
Drinks at the Hôtel de la Cité – Carcassonne
We returned to our car, taking a long last look at La Cité as we exited the Porte de l’Aude.
Porte de l’Aude – Carcassonne
We received a warm welcome at our Carcassonne accommodation.
Welcome to Carcassonne Nancy & Co.!!!!!!