Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a city in the Aude department of southern France, on the route between the Mediterranean and Toulouse. Its fortified upper town, the Cité, with a double ring of walls and 52 towers, was the seat of counts and then of the Trencavel viscounts, whose surrender to the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 ended their rule. Restored by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.