HISTORIC FORTIFIED CITY OF CARCASSONNE

The medieval town of Carcassonne, located in the Occitania region of France, was originally a Gaulish settlement that the Romans transformed into a fortified town in the third century. It is most famous for its nearly two miles of walls interspersed with 52 towers that surround the area, making it the largest walled city in Europe. In 1853, the 19th-century architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc began extensive reconstruction on the cathedral and ramparts, which continued until the 1960s. Currently, about 1,000 people inhabit this historic city. —Prepared by the World Tribune