CARCASSONNE, Icir-k;-son', France, capital of the department of Aude, on both sides of the river Aude and on a branch of the Canal du Midi, 53 miles south of Toulouse. It consists of an old and a new town which communicate by a bridge of 12 arches spanning the river. The old town is surrounded by a double wall, part of it so ancient as to be at tributed to the Visigoths, and is defended by a castle. Its streets are narrow, dirty and deso late, forming a striking contrast to those .of the new town, which is regularly built, and has many handsome modern houses. The princi pal buildings are the restored cathedral of Saint-Nazaire, the courthouse, the prefecture, the old market and the churches of Saint Michel and Saint Vincent. The town con tains a lyceum, a teachers' college, a seminary, a public library and a museum. The boulevards are finely planted. The chief manufacture is
that of woolen cloth which is exported chiefly to the Levant, the Barbary states and South America. Carcassonne also manufactures paper, leather, linen, soap, ironware and pot tery, and there is also a considerable trade in wine, grain, brandy, fruit and leather. The whole department is represented at its Novem ber fair. The ancient city, Carcaso, in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, fell into the hands of the Visigoths about 725; it was ruled by viscounts from the 11th to the 13th century and was united to France in 1209. In 1247 King Louis the Saint founded the lower town. It was pillaged and burned by the Black Prince in 1355, and in 1566 a Huguenot massacre took place within its walls. Consult Fedie, L. 'His tory of Carcassonne) (Carcassonne