Towering 300 ft above the town of Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, stands a romantic baroque castle that was once a medieval fortress.
Wernigerode Castle aerial view. Credit Deutsche Fotothek
The castle, Wernigerode, Hartz, Germany in 1895
Wernigerode Castle. Credit Andreas Tille
Originally built as a Romanesque hunting lodge for 12th-century German counts, its tumultuous history included several rebuilds in completely new architectural styles.
Wernigerode Castle. Credit Voyage48
Evolving from Romanesque, the Gothic style appeared during the 14th century and can be seen depicted in the large arched windows.
Wernigerode Castle. Credit Klugschnacker
Wernigerode Castle. Credit Klugschnacker
Strolling around the castle ramparts reveals stunning vistas over Wernigerode town.
Wernigerode Castle. Credit Klugschnacker
Morphing into a Renaissance fortress in the 1500s, Wernigerode Castle was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years’ War of the 17th century.
One of the longest and most destructive conflicts in human history, the Thirty Years’ War was the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million fatalities.
The Battle of Rocroi (1643) by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau
Wernigerode Castle. Credit fanglan
Cannon at Wernigerode Castle. Credit Timur Y
Devastating entire regions, the war spread famine and disease, imposed severe hardships on the inhabitants of occupied territories, and bankrupted most of the combatant powers.
The capture of Rheinfelden by the troops of the Duke of Feria, 1633 by Vincenzo Carducci
Despite several renovations and later additions, mostly between 1862 and 1893, Wernigerode Castle retains its original medieval gothic tower and spiral stone staircase.
Wernigerode Castle. Credit fanglan
Wernigerode Castle staircase. Credit Luha
Renowned Vienna architect Friedrich von Schmidt built the chapel inside of Wernigerode Castle in 1880.
Chapel of St. Pantaleon and Anna in Wernigerode castle. Credit Stefan Schäfer
Wernigerode Castle’s rooms feature ornate chandeliers, wood carvings, and tapestries.
Wernigerode Castle. Credit Romantikgeist
Wernigerode Castle. Credit a.froese
Wernigerode Castle Felmish Tapestry. Credit Luha
Adorning the marketplace are colorful medieval buildings, including the town hall with timber face dating from 1498.
Wernigerode’s Gothic Town Hall. Credit Klugschnacker
Wernigerode Town Hall. Credit Misburg3014
The market square in Wernigerode. Credit Klugschnacker
Please beware of the dragon—he may be only a puppy, but he can get a bit playful at times.
The medieval walled city of Carcassonne sits in the luscious valley of the Aude river—the gap between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central.
Slate roofs glint in the sun atop 13th-century towers that dominate the horizon.
Surrounded by mountains and vineyards, the scent of pine shrubs, spicy herbs, and sweet flowers is carried on the cool winds. Known as the garrigue (gah-REEG), it is the signature scent of the south of France.
View of the medieval city of Carcassonne amongst vineyards. Photo Harry. Photo Dennis Jarvis
Here are 10 amazing facts about this medieval wonder that you might not know.
1. The walls of the city are 1.9 miles (3 km) long
The fortified city has a concentric design having two outer walls with 52 towers and barbicans, designed to prevent attack by siege engines.
The shining turrets of Carcassonne. Photo Ad Meskens
3. A Roman tower housed the Medieval Inquisition
The shallow-pitch terracotta tile roofs and red brick layers identify these towers as Roman, one of which is called “The Inquisition Tower”.
The Medieval Inquisition’s purpose was to root out and prevent the spread of Cathars and Waldensians—followers of religious movements that were denounced by the Catholic Church.
Extracts from a letter written around 1285 by the Consuls of Carcassonne to Jean Galand, a Dominican Inquisitor at Carcassonne, describe what conditions were like in the Inquisition Tower:
… you have created a prison called “The Wall”, which would be better called “Hell”. In it you have constructed small cells to inflict pain and to mistreat people using various types of torture. Some prisoners remain in fetters … and are unable to move. They excrete and urinate where they are … Some are placed on the chevelet ; many of them have lost the use of their limbs because of the severity of the torture … Life for them is an agony, and death a relief. Under these constraints they affirm as true what is false, preferring to die once than to be thus tortured multiple times.
4. Carcassonne was the first fortress to use hoardings in times of siege
Overhanging wooden ramparts attached to the upper walls of the fortress provided protection to defenders on the wall and allowed them to shoot arrows or drop projectiles on attackers beneath.
Two of the towers that are on the right side of the entrance. Photo Dennis Jarvis
A view of eh wooden hoarding from inside the castle walls. Photo Dennis Jarvis
5. Edward the Black Prince failed to take the city during the Hundred Years’ War
When the Black Prince passed through Carcassonne, his army razed the Lower Town, but couldn’t take the extremely well defended walled city.
Carcassone’s position as a key defensive fortification on the border with Spain remained until the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed, which effectively pushed the border further south—diminishing Carcassone’s strategic importance.
The 16-year-old Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy by Julian Russell Story, 1888
6. In 1849, the City of Carcassonne was nearly demolished
Not the news this Carcassonne gargoyle wanted to hear.
Carcassonne was struck off the roster of official fortifications under Napoleon and the Restoration.
It fell into such disrepair that the French government decided that it should be demolished, causing an uproar among local citizens.
He wrote a poem about the lament of a peasant man who dreamed of seeing Carcassonne before he died, but was never able to visit. His poem inspired many others and was translated into English several times.
8. In 1898, Pope Leo XIII upgraded Carcassonne’s Gothic Church to a Basilica
The minor Basilica is entirely inside the city walls. Famed for its stained glass windows—some of the oldest in the south of France—the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus is a national monument.
Basilica of Saint-Nazaire (11th – 14th century), the jewel of this medieval city, Carcassonne. Photo Dennis Jarvis
Basilica of Saint-Nazaire is noted for its stained glass windows. Photo Dennis Jarvis
9. The city was named after a fairy-tale princess
In the 8th century, Carcassonne was under Saracen rule and besieged by Charlemagne’s army. Lady Carcas, a Saracen princess, fed a pig with wheat and threw it from the city walls, fooling Charlemagne into thinking the city had abundant food. Charlemagne lifted the siege, and in celebration, Lady Carcas rang the city bells. Thus, the city was named Carcassonne, meaning “Carcas rings.”
Although Lady Carcas is fictional, such oral traditions were commonplace in the 12th century and perpetuated in writing in later centuries. Similar legends link a number of historical characters in other times and places with similar ruses.
10. Carcassonne vies with Mont St Michel for the title of most visited monument in France
The citadel was restored at the end of the 19th century and in 1997 it was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.
‘I’m growing old, I’ve sixty years; I’ve labored all my life in vain:
In all that time of hopes and fears
I’ve failed my dearest wish to gain.
I see full well that here below
Bliss unalloyed there is for none.
My prayer will ne’er fulfilment know
I never have seen Carcassonne,
I never have seen Carcassonne!
You see the city from the hill,
It lies beyond the mountains blue,
And yet to reach it one must still
Five long and weary leagues pursue,
And to return as many more!
Ah! had the vintage plenteous grown!
The grape withheld its yellow store!
I shall not look on Carcassonne,
I shall not look on Carcassonne!
‘They tell me every day is there
Not more or less than Sunday gay:
In shining robes and garments fair
The people walk upon their way.
One gazes there on castle walls
As grand as those of Babylon,
A bishop and two generals!
I do not know fair Carcassonne,
I do not know fair Carcassonne!
‘The vicar’s right; he says that we
Are ever wayward, weak and blind,
He tells us in his homily
Ambition ruins all mankind;
Yet could I there two days have spent
While still the autumn sweetly shone,
Ah me! I might have died content
When I had looked on Carcassonne,
When I had looked on Carcassonne!
‘Thy pardon, Father, I beseech,
In this my prayer if I append:
One something sees beyond his reach
From childhood to his journey’s end.
My wife, our little boy Aignon,
Have traveled even to Narbonne;
My grandchild has seen Perpignon,
And I have not seen Carcassonne,
And I have not seen Carcassonne!’
So crooned one day, close by Limoux,
A peasant double-bent with age;
‘Rise up, my friend,’ said I; ‘with you
I’ll go upon this pilgrimage.’
We left next morning his abode,
But (Heaven forgive him) halfway on,
The old man died upon the road;
He never gazed on Carcassonne,
Each mortal has his Carcassonne!
