Carcassonne

(Aude, Occitanie, France)

ERAAUB team members Dr G. Ripoll and Dr F. Tuset lead the Spanish team of the architectural study of the fortifications on the site of Carcassonne, in the frame of the international project: Carcassonne, la Cité : étude, relevé et datation des fortifications. Carcassonne became Humanity’s World Heritage by the UNESCO in 1997. That name was given to the site in the mid-nineteenth century and it was often criticized, by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The City is surrounded by a double wall. One dates from late antiquity, the other was built in the 13th century. No other in-depth scientific study on the constructive complexity and on the dating problems of both fortifications has been published since the great work of Joseph Poux, La Cité de Carcassonne, which was published in five volumes (1922-1938), therefore the implementation of a research project was absolutely necessary. Until 2017 a multi- and interdisciplinary team was responsible for the exhaustive study of the constructive phases and their chronology in the frame of the above-mentioned project. The project involved the excavation and correct contextualization of the findings but also included the study of all available historical literal, graphical and photographic sources. At present, a wide database is being built up with information on all materials and construction techniques, the composition of different samples of mortar and the correct chronology after archaeometrical analysis. In addition, data on photogrammetry and 3D modelling are included.

RIPOLL, G. and TUSET, F., Les fortificacions de Carcassona. L’ERAAUB participa en un projecte internacional d’estudi, InfoGiH, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, Butlletí 16, Desembre 2014, http://www.ub.edu/facgh/infogih/Novetats/les-fortificacions-de-carcassona-leraaub-participa-en-un-projecte-internacional-destudi/