Explorer Carcassonne

Carcassonne Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Michael, stands in the Bastide Saint-Louis, the lower town. It was begun in 1247 as a parish church in southern Gothic style and, after the town was burned in 1355, was built into the new fortifications. It has been the bishop's seat since 1803; inside are a single wide nave and 14th-century stained glass in the choir.

The Pont Vieux is a stone bridge across the Aude that links the Bastide Saint-Louis with the Cité of Carcassonne. Built in the early 14th century, it has twelve round arches of unequal span and is about 225 m long. In the Middle Ages it was the only crossing between the lower town and the Cité; today it is open to pedestrians only.

The Cité is the walled medieval town on a hill above the Aude in Carcassonne, ringed by two lines of walls about 3 km long with 52 towers. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc restored it in the 19th century, and it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The ticketed visit covers the 12th-century castle and a walk on the ramparts.

The Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus stands inside the walled Cité of Carcassonne and was the town's cathedral until 1803. Its Romanesque nave dates from the late 11th and 12th centuries; the transept and choir were rebuilt in Gothic style around 1300 and keep stained glass from about 1280. Viollet-le-Duc restored the church in the 19th century.