Carcassonne Castle

You may have already heard of Carcassonne, located in the Southwest region of France.In short, it’s a walled medieval city that became important during the Albigensian Crusade and remained so for the rest of the Middle Ages, until the southern border of France moved south to the Pyrénées Mountains. While the city continued to grow outside the walls, the fortress fell into disrepair after it lost its purpose. This changed in the 19th century when Eugène Viollet-le-Duc restored it to its former glory. Carcassonne then became one of the most important medieval sites in France, if not the world. For more details, check the Wikipedia page or the official website.Today, I want to focus on the castle inside the walled city.The castle was built on the grounds of much older constructions (dating back to the first century) at the beginning of the twelfth century (circa 1120) by Bernard Aton IV Trencavel, viscount of Carcassonne, Albi, Béziers, Agde, and Nîmes.The castle belonged to the…