Sete, France

Today, I got up early to see the sunrise and it was spectacular. 

 Sete, France is the largest fishing port in the Mediterranean. It was declared a port by King Louis XIV in 1660. He wanted to connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea so in 1666 they began to create a network of canals and bridges. During the summer there are water jousting competitions in these waterways. 

Unfortunately, we missed all this as we took a 1-1/2 hour trip through the countryside to Carcassonne, a fortified hilltop settlement and a UNESCO World Heritage site for its outstanding medieval heritage. History is more interesting to me when I see it rather than just read about it. Now that I have some background information by visiting this city, I want to read more about this time period. 

lol

From the brochure: Founded in ancient times, Carcassonne was originally a fortified town. In the Middle Ages it became a prosperous city, the fiefdom of the Viscounts of Trencavel, thus securing its place in history. Kindly to the Catharsis, it was besieged in 1209 during the Albigensian Crusade. Defeated, it was brought into the sphere of the French crown and became one of the seats of the Inquisition. Under the initiative of the Capetian Kings, who installed defense systems in the 13th century that can be still seen today, it became the main fortress of the Languedoc region, an impregnable citadel against the Kingdom of Aragon. Gradually stripped of its military role, the City was abandoned before being restored as part of the enormous project led by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about this settlement and explained how to tell when each section of the fortifications was built by the stone that was used. Some items were incorrectly reconstructed. For example, the towers should not have roofs on them.

The city has two concentric fortified walls and 50 towers. The soldiers could see and defend all sides of the city. The walls built by the Romans used rounded stones to lessen the chance of attackers climbing the walls. It did have a drawbridge over a grass “moat.”  There was no way to get water up the hill to fill the moat but they used the steep slopes to their advantage. Not as many soldiers needed to guard those sides since it was very difficult to lug a catapult uphill and launch over the wall it into the city. The guards spent more time guarding the areas where the attacker would more likely try to enter.

Inside the city is the Saint-Nazareth Basilica, a Romanesque and Gothic church with beautiful stained glass windows. It is believed the naeve was built in 1096 and reworked in Gothic style after the unification of the city. The building lost its cathedral status in 1893 but in 1898 received the title of Basilica in 1898.

The stained glass windows tell the story of Jesus starting from the beginning of Adam and Eve eating the apple and the genealogy of man. The two bottom pictures contain Noah’s Ark and The Ark of the Covenant. It is really beautiful and considered “A Jewel of South France.”