At France Direct you will find the best France Holiday Rentals, French Vacation Rentals, Dordogne Holidays and Bed and Breakfast in France all booked Direct with the Property Owner. Our Travel Service will save you money with low cost discounted Channel Crossings. Our Tourist Information pages offer lots of information on what to expect when you do arrive and places of interest for you to visit. You will be able to make your booking directly with the property owner, who, in 95% of cases, speak English and discuss your accommodation and local places of interest with someone who has a working knowledge of both and not just an agent with a limited knowledge of either. To start your journey, just click on one of the links to your left. France Direct does not produce a printed brochure, all of our properties are on-line. Carcassone: Medieval City in the sun. Protected from would-be invaders by 52 defensive towers arranged along a huge double row of fortified walls nearly 3 kms in length, lies the Medieval city of Carcassonne. Carcas, a village found 2 kilometers South of Carcassonne, was a very large and active agglomeration during the 9th and 10th centuries BC. The inhabitants of Carcas migrated to the present location of Carcassonne around 600 BC. At that time, the common way to protect a city was to dig a large moat and build a high and reinforced wooden fence surrounding the city. The third
century BC was a particularly unstable period and invasions by cruel
Barbarians were common. This is when the city of Carcassonne increased
it defenses by improving the solidity and defensive aspects of the
ramparts surrounding the city. These are the fortified walls that
we can still admire today. Approximately between 1230 and 1240,
another period of invasion and insecurity pushed the inhabitants
to built a second exterior wall. Thousands of soldiers were needed
to protect the city from invasion by the Barbarians at that time.
The "City of Carcassonne", born over 2000 years ago, is a symbol
of the most successful achievement of the military architecture
of this time in Europe. Nothing of the architechture there has changed
since the 13th century and if you have a chance to go to the South
of France, you should not miss being carried into the heart of the
Middles Ages and feeling the magic of its past glory.
Who were the Cathars? We cannot describe Carcassonne without mentionning the Cathars. Catharism was a very active religion in Europe and especially in Carcassonne. The middle of the 12th century was a
period of serenity, wealth and religious tolerance. Jews, Catholics
and Cathars lived in relative harmony. Cathars were Christians,
but differed from the Roman Catholics because they considered the
material world the creation of Evil, whereas God had created spiritual
perfection for eternity. As a result, they refused any earthly pleasure:
fancy food and meat, sex and wealth were banned from their lives. |
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Whichever direction you are coming from, in
the South of France between Toulouse and Narbonne, you cannot miss
the colossal silhouette of the City of Carcassonne. 
