m a Med. Gr. _[Greek: tarkasion]_, a quiver, for
which the Fr. is _carquois_, and Port. _carcaz_.

CARCASSONNE, a city of south-western France, capital of the department
of Aude, 57 m. S.E. of Toulouse, on the Southern railway between that
city and Narbonne. Pop. (1906) 25,346. Carcassonne is divided by the
river Aude into two distinct towns, the Ville Basse and the Cite, which
are connected by two bridges, one modern, the other dating from the 13th
century. The Cite occupies the summit of an abrupt and isolated hill on
the right bank of the river. Its dirty and irregular streets are
inhabited by a scanty population of workpeople, and its interest lies
mainly in its ancient fortifications (see FORTIFICATION AND SIEGECRAFT)
which, for completeness and strength, are unique in France and probably
in Europe. They consist of a double line of ramparts, of which the outer
measures more than 1600 yds. in circumference. These are protected at
frequent intervals by towers, and can be entered only by two gates, one
to the east, the other to the west, both of which are themselves
elaborately fortified (see GATE). In the interior, and to the north of
the western gate, a citadel adjoins the fortifications. A portion of the
inner line is attributed to the Visigoths of the 6th century; the rest,
including the castle, seems to belong to the 11th or 12th century, while
the outer circuit has been referred mainly to the end of the 13th. The
old cathedral of St Nazaire dates from the 11th to the 14th centuries.
The nave was begun in 1096 and is Romanesque in style; the transept and
choir, which contain magnificent stained glass of the Renaissance
period, are of Gothic architecture. Both the fortifications and the
church were restored by Viollet-le-Duc between 1850 and 1880. On the
left bank of the Aude, between it and the Canal du Midi, lies the new
town, clean, well-built and flourishing, with streets intersecting each
other at right angles. It is surrounded by boulevards occupying the site
of its ramparts, and is well provided with fountains, public squares and
gardens planted with fine plane-trees. The most interesting buildings
are the cathedral of St Michel, dating from the 13th century but
restored in modern times, and St Vincent, a church of the 14th century,
remarkable for the width of its nave.

Carcassonne is the seat of a bishop, a prefect and a court of assizes,
and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a chambe