Located on a hilltop in Occitania in southern France, Carcassonne is known for its medieval citadel called La Cité. Three kilometers of ramparts, two fortified walls dating from the 4th and 13th centuries, four gates, 52 towers and barbicans make up the ancient city and offer a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Dating from the 12th century, the Comtal castle and its ramparts are a testimony of engineering and a jewel of Gallo-Roman architecture classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Inhabited since Antiquity, the site has seen the Visigoths, Saracens and Franks pass through it. Besieged for suspected complicity with the Cathars, the city capitulated in 1209 and was subsequently annexed. From then on, La Cité became an important place with a double wall. In the 19th century, the architect Viollet-le-Duc restored the city to its former glory. Carcassonne brings to life medieval legends, those of knights and kings and makes the heart of history lovers beat faster.