Karen T. Bartlett
A real medieval castle, a stone-walled fortress with watchtowers, ramparts, secret passages – and if the tales are true, the lingering ghosts of murderous invaders, crusaders, and courageous defenders: It’s all the stuff of a certain young boy’s fantasy. He’s dreamed of seeing such a place for just about forever, and this year he finally made it. It did take just about forever (half a century, in fact) but that grown-up boy finally got to climb to the top of those towers and walk those ramparts. And not just any castle, but an entire 12th century fortress, the most spectacular in all of Europe, still guarding the chateau within.
The place is the medieval Cité de Carcassonne at the edge of the Pyrenees, where southwestern France meets the northeast border of Spain. There, for more than 2,000 years, knights prepared for battle and archers defended towering ramparts. A viscount battled it out with the King of France, and Prince Edward burned down the La Bastide Saint-Louis in the lower town below. In the darkest years the Black Prince Edward burned it to the ground, and in the darkest years of the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholic Church massacred “heretics.” Before that – waaaay before that – Visigoths, Saracens, and Romans engaged in brutal wars in the name of religion, power, and greed. In peaceful times, walls were rebuilt and minstrels serenaded in the streets.
After destruction, refortification, destruction, and refortification, what possibly could be left? Nothing less than the best movie set ever (think Kevin Costner as Robin Hood catapulting over the fortress wall), and a young boy’s dream come true.
The low seasons of spring and fall are wonderful times to explore the chateau and all its secrets. Summer is for families (and, therefore, crowds), but that’s when the most colorful medieval happenings take place within the Cité walls. Knights, jesters, jugglers, and troubadours roam around and lounge against the thick stone walls to entertain and enchant passersby. A little girl wearing a medieval jeweled headdress with flowing veil may have just graduated from the Headdress and Medieval Dances Workshop. In the Heraldic Workshop, families create personal coats of arms on wooden shields. In the Knight’s Journey Workshop, kids learn secrets of strength and valor in battle (yes, of course, there are swords) and are dubbed knights of the realm.
Lady Carcas
Visitors may observe the Saracen princess, Lady Carcas, in her medieval velvet gown, explaining how she singlehandedly saved the citadel from a six-year siege by Charlemagne. With her soldiers dying of disease and the villagers starving, she cleverly fattened up a skinny pig with the town’s last sheaf of wheat and tossed it from the highest tower. Charlemagne, assuming that with enough food to waste on a pig, the Cité could not be conquered, withdrew. Lady Carcas called for the sounding of all the church bells, leading to the phrase Carcas sonne! (“Carcas rings”), and the name stuck.
Charlemagne may or may not have sieged the castle, and Lady Carcas may or may not have existed. Nevertheless, her stone image still presides over the castle’s Narbonnaisse Gate.
Total immersion!
Put on your headset for the new adrenaline-pumping 360-degree virtual reality passage through the Cité’s 2,000-year history. With constant sieges and battles, it’s fraught with danger, so watch out – not just ahead or left and right, because an attack may come from above or behind. Arrows whiz by, and worse – a boulder may come right down on your head from the murder hole above. After this “heady” experience, you’ll be properly psyched to pass through the chateau gates with the eyes of an insider.
Carcassonne is an hour from Toulouse by train. There’s no admission to stroll the mile-long pathways between the fortifications and the twisty cobblestone alleys packed with souvenir shops, cafes, and tourist attractions. There’s a narrated horse and carriage tour, guided walking tours, and even an Inquisition museum. The centerpiece, though, is Chateau Comtal (Count’s Castle), where you can walk its parapets, look out for invaders through narrow arrowslits and murder holes, and ascend nine of the citadel’s 52 towers, including 200 stone steps to the highest one. The $10 admission is worth twice the price. That grown-up little boy with the 50-year fantasy decreed it so.
Stay in Toulouse: Family-friendly Pullman Toulouse Centre Ramblas is a 5-minute walk to the train station.
Visit www.tourisme-carcassonne.fr.
Co-publisher Stacy Nicolau visited Carcassonne last summer with her daughter and a group of students from Collier County. Below are her photos of that memorable trip.
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Stacy Nicolau
View of Toulouse
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Stacy Nicolau
High School students from Naples, Fl tour Carcassonne.
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Stacy Nicolau
Queen Elizabeth once stayed in this inn.
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Julia Nicolau and her mother Stacy Nicolau of Naples, Fl, tour Carcassonne.
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High school students from Naples, Fl purchased flower wreaths to wear.