I was surprised to see how large the citadel of Carcassonne actually was. I didn’t know that it is the largest walled town in Europe. This is probably one which is larger but Carcasonne is the town which still has its walls intact. It probably benefits from having an excellent location on top of a hill along the river Aude. To get an idea of how large this town actually is, one can just follow the walls from the outside and see how long it takes to go around the citadel. Visitors will also be rewarded with views of the town of Carcassonne.
Carcassonne is actually composed of two parts: the citadel and also the main town outside the citadel. I wasn’t sure which one came first, I can’t really tell which part is bigger. Unsurprisingly, much of the town is very flat. Usually when a place is recognized as a heritage place, development would be strictly controlled to keep the town or city the way it is. Carcassonne doesn’t have the feel of a museum town yet, perhaps my opinion would change once I see how busy this place actually is outside a public holiday. Although there are part of the citadel I didn’t get to visit, I was still glad to be able to visit this place with a few people as possible.
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