VIP VISITORS: Datuk Masidi Manjun (left) with MASWing pilot at Carcassonne airport
MEDIEVAL SPLENDOUR: The ancient city of Carcassonne has been a UNESCO heritage site since 1997Until I met a Spanish journalist on board a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Paris on my way to Toulouse, I have never heard of Carcassone...
Seated next to me was a “young blue Spanish eyes” who has just visited Myanamar, He was on his way home via France.
He told me Carcassonne would be a nice stopover after Toulouse. I was not aware then that the Sabah media group in the MASWinngs’ mission of 10th ATR aircraft delivery would have a stopover visit to this fabled city.
Thanks to Sabah Tourism Minister Datuk Masidi Munjun who proposed the visit, saying Sabah had a lot to learn from Carcassonne. Masidi revealed Sabah itself had ear-marked a few places as heritage sites.
Carcassonne is east of Toulouse, toward the Mediterranean Sea, in the unfolding of hills between the Massif central rising to the north and the Pyrenees to the South.
It is a beautifully walled city. The gleaming walls and pointed towers take the visitors back to medieval times of knights in their shining armour.
The city is divided into two with with the Ville Basse (lower city, sightly newer) being the larger, and Cite de Carcassonne (upper city) as the section surrounded by fortified walls.
The blue spanish eyes did not tell me that Carcassonne was once a disputed border with Spain. That was probably why he had recommended a visit there.
The newly delivered ATR 72-500 aircraft made its maiden flight from Toulouse to Carcassonne with the tourism minister, MAS and MASWings senior officers, crew and members of the media on board.
I was certainly filled with excitement as I looked out from the window as the plane made its landing after 30-minutes flight.
A walled city on a hill, a fortification, a real castle that were only in my fairy tale story books come to life!
We did not have time for the lower city, so we headed straight to the upper city, that’s the castle. The coach wound its way up the narrow roads, and there it was – curving stone walls, turrets, mammoth wooden gates, a drawbridge over a moat, wooden ramparts, the notched stone top all the way around where the knights would shoot arrows, drop boulders and pour boiling onto their attackers.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, Carcassonne has been inhabited for about 5000 years.
The tour guide said some of the lowest ramparts date from 100BC. A second wall was added to make a “curtain” of defence. The town was cloistered within the wall, and towers erected to watch for the English invaders and crusaders from the West. Indeed, there was a fair bit of European history to remember!
SENTINELS OF THE PAST: The castles of Carcassonne
More than 200 people still live within the walls of the upper town, the Cite, but these are not characters dressed in period costume, but shop owners and waiters, probably modern descendants, of those who sheltered in the fortress when the lower town was attacked.
We threaded our way through the streets, emerging into a wide square. Directly across is a second set of walls, the interior castle or château, complete with wooden ramparts or walkways along the tops.
We purchased tickets, crossed a second drawbridge, passed through more huge gates and into a vast courtyard with an ancient sycamore tree at the centre.
Upstairs, in a wide banquet room, a video in wide format recounts the history of Carcassonne (in French), and then we wandered.
There were rooms after rooms of artefacts dating from the Roman era through the Restoration - statues, gargoyles, mosaics, tools, weapons, and coins.
We walked along the ramparts, reading the information plaques at every interval, learning about the methods of defence, discovering the slots for archers, looking down between the stone squares of the battlements to the walls, the cathedral, the town, and the countryside spreading into the blue distance.
Each tower is different. Each turn of the battlements reveals a new view. It’s easy to imagine being on watch atop the wall, huddling by the human-sized fireplace in winter, hauling water and food and armaments up and down the tower steps.
A city that thrives on a tourist economy, the historic and educational landmarks of the fortress draw the crowds. There are daily activities within the fortified walls. It is definitely an entertaining and impressive display of both combat and horsemanship to say the least.
While the show offered some experience, the ancient stones beneath our feet and in the walls makes the day’s visit near perfect.
The fact that “Robin Hood” and “Prince of Thieves” were filmed in Carcassonne showed its charm quality of history-come-to-life.
The city tourist board boasts that Carcassonne's stony ramparts, silvery-blue towers and fairytale charm inspired Walt Disney to build his castle-like famous theme parks.
The connection is undocumented, but the similarities between the ancient castle and Sleeping Beauty's trademark manor are striking and both have an enormous effect on children.
Carcassonne makes history – the castles, the wars, the people’s lives. Moreover, three-dimensions and interactive, the stone fortress that makes the world of castle in my fairytale recollections a little more real.
Seated next to me was a “young blue Spanish eyes” who has just visited Myanamar, He was on his way home via France.
He told me Carcassonne would be a nice stopover after Toulouse. I was not aware then that the Sabah media group in the MASWinngs’ mission of 10th ATR aircraft delivery would have a stopover visit to this fabled city.
Thanks to Sabah Tourism Minister Datuk Masidi Munjun who proposed the visit, saying Sabah had a lot to learn from Carcassonne. Masidi revealed Sabah itself had ear-marked a few places as heritage sites.
Carcassonne is east of Toulouse, toward the Mediterranean Sea, in the unfolding of hills between the Massif central rising to the north and the Pyrenees to the South.
It is a beautifully walled city. The gleaming walls and pointed towers take the visitors back to medieval times of knights in their shining armour.
The city is divided into two with with the Ville Basse (lower city, sightly newer) being the larger, and Cite de Carcassonne (upper city) as the section surrounded by fortified walls.
The blue spanish eyes did not tell me that Carcassonne was once a disputed border with Spain. That was probably why he had recommended a visit there.
The newly delivered ATR 72-500 aircraft made its maiden flight from Toulouse to Carcassonne with the tourism minister, MAS and MASWings senior officers, crew and members of the media on board.
I was certainly filled with excitement as I looked out from the window as the plane made its landing after 30-minutes flight.
A walled city on a hill, a fortification, a real castle that were only in my fairy tale story books come to life!
We did not have time for the lower city, so we headed straight to the upper city, that’s the castle. The coach wound its way up the narrow roads, and there it was – curving stone walls, turrets, mammoth wooden gates, a drawbridge over a moat, wooden ramparts, the notched stone top all the way around where the knights would shoot arrows, drop boulders and pour boiling onto their attackers.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, Carcassonne has been inhabited for about 5000 years.
The tour guide said some of the lowest ramparts date from 100BC. A second wall was added to make a “curtain” of defence. The town was cloistered within the wall, and towers erected to watch for the English invaders and crusaders from the West. Indeed, there was a fair bit of European history to remember!
SENTINELS OF THE PAST: The castles of CarcassonneMore than 200 people still live within the walls of the upper town, the Cite, but these are not characters dressed in period costume, but shop owners and waiters, probably modern descendants, of those who sheltered in the fortress when the lower town was attacked.
We threaded our way through the streets, emerging into a wide square. Directly across is a second set of walls, the interior castle or château, complete with wooden ramparts or walkways along the tops.
We purchased tickets, crossed a second drawbridge, passed through more huge gates and into a vast courtyard with an ancient sycamore tree at the centre.
Upstairs, in a wide banquet room, a video in wide format recounts the history of Carcassonne (in French), and then we wandered.
There were rooms after rooms of artefacts dating from the Roman era through the Restoration - statues, gargoyles, mosaics, tools, weapons, and coins.
We walked along the ramparts, reading the information plaques at every interval, learning about the methods of defence, discovering the slots for archers, looking down between the stone squares of the battlements to the walls, the cathedral, the town, and the countryside spreading into the blue distance.
Each tower is different. Each turn of the battlements reveals a new view. It’s easy to imagine being on watch atop the wall, huddling by the human-sized fireplace in winter, hauling water and food and armaments up and down the tower steps.
A city that thrives on a tourist economy, the historic and educational landmarks of the fortress draw the crowds. There are daily activities within the fortified walls. It is definitely an entertaining and impressive display of both combat and horsemanship to say the least.
While the show offered some experience, the ancient stones beneath our feet and in the walls makes the day’s visit near perfect.
The fact that “Robin Hood” and “Prince of Thieves” were filmed in Carcassonne showed its charm quality of history-come-to-life.
The city tourist board boasts that Carcassonne's stony ramparts, silvery-blue towers and fairytale charm inspired Walt Disney to build his castle-like famous theme parks.
The connection is undocumented, but the similarities between the ancient castle and Sleeping Beauty's trademark manor are striking and both have an enormous effect on children.
Carcassonne makes history – the castles, the wars, the people’s lives. Moreover, three-dimensions and interactive, the stone fortress that makes the world of castle in my fairytale recollections a little more real.
Legend behind name of Carcassonne
According to tradition, there was a princess named Dame Carcas who lived in the city. One day, the city was under siege by Charlemagne, who wanted the town for himself. This went on for several days, until the food and water supplies situation in the city became desperate.
Dame Carcas had a brilliant idea. She fed all of the richest remaining food and wine to the pigs, and then catapulted them out to the Charlemagne's army that surrounded the city.
Of course, the pigs didn't survive the catapult, but the soldiers were able to see what was in their stomachs.
The army reasoned, "If they're feeding this nice food to their pigs, they must still have plenty of supplies. Let's go to another city, this will take too long."
This was exactly what she wanted them to think, and thus successfully hook winked the mighty Charlemagne's army.
After the army departed and the town was free, Dame Carcas rang the cathedral bells in victory.
The people shouted, “Carcas Sonne! (Carcas rings).”
The town was called Carcassonne in her honour.
2 comments:
Your photos and description make me feel that I am part of the visit too.
thanks.
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