Bastide Saint Louis, Carcassonne, Carcassonne, France

Carcassonne is a city in two parts, divided by the Aude River. After visiting the Medieval City, I poked around the Bastide Saint Louis, which had its own historical notes to mention here.

Named after King Lous IX (later canonized as Saint), who authorized the construction of towns on the left bank of the Aude, the Bastide Saint Louis was built in 1260 but razed in 1355 by Edward, known as the Black Prince. It was rebuilt and fortified with a surrounding wall in 1359. By the 17th century, the moats were filled in and made into promenades and the fortified walls were opened. The drawbridge was converted in 1778 to the Portal des Jacobins, leading to the commercial and shopping district.

The Bastide Saint-Louis became the first cloth producer in the region in 1660, and the textile industry dominated the town between the 17th-18th centuries, peaking in 1810 when it became the center of cloth production in the Languedoc. I didn’t find any traces of that legacy, not a museum or even a token fabric store:)

The district’s main tourist point is Place Carnot and its Neptune Fountain, built in 1771 by Barata and Son at the behest of Louis XIV. The base is pink Caunes marble, the fountain itself is Italian white marble mined from the same quarry that supplied marble to the Versailles and the White House. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).