Carcassonne

Carcassonne, with 47 thousand residents,¹ is located where the river Aude turns east, and where the Canal du Midi enters that river's valley, in the Aude Department of the Languedoc-Rousillon Region of France. UNESCO honors the canal, here and elsewhere, as part of a World Heritage Site. Another of those UNESCO sites honors the fortified city. The Romans built a 1200 meter long wall, which was supplemented by a twelfth century castle. The walls enclose the Gothic cathedral, which has some high quality stained glass windows. The fortifications were restored under the direction of Viollet-le-Duc.²

External references

Overview of the old part of Carcassonne, Aude Department, Languedoc-Rousillon Region, France

Footnotes

1. Figure for 2010 in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communes_in_France_with_over_20,000_inhabitants, accessed 2/9/2015.
2. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010).