The restoration explained
Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of Carcassonne, explained
Why a near-ruin became France's most photographed medieval skyline — and why the roofs are still argued about.
Check dates on Viator ↗A fortress scheduled for demolition
By the early 19th century Carcassonne had lost its military purpose, the walls were crumbling, and local builders were using them as a quarry. In 1849 the government decided the fortifications should be demolished; local opposition, led by the antiquary Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, turned the decision around.
Mérimée joins the campaign
Prosper Mérimée, the writer who was also France's inspector-general of historic monuments, campaigned alongside Cros-Mayrevieille. Napoleon III approved the restoration in 1853, and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc led it until he died in 1879, after which his pupil Paul Boeswillwald, and later Henri Nodet, carried on the work.
The roofs that still get argued about
Viollet-le-Duc's steep slate cones on the towers are his most visible and most criticised addition — the counter-argument, still made today, is that castles in this part of the Languedoc more typically carried low-pitched roofs of Roman-style clay tile rather than northern-style slate. In his defence, many of the crusaders who took the region came from the north, and his team found fragments of slate during the work.
Why UNESCO lists the restoration, not just the ruins
UNESCO, which inscribed the cité in 1997, describes it as an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town and credits the long restoration campaign by Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of modern conservation, with part of its exceptional importance.