Surrounded by a 3 km long double wall, the city was initially built in the 3rd century as a Roman fortress on top of previous defensive sites. Enlarged and fortified on various occasions between the 11th and 13th centuries, it will be the object of successive changes and seizures of power, including the known Cathar Crusade. Due to its strategic location as a transit point between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and Europe and the Iberian Peninsula, it gained importance as a commercial and defensive center. In addition, it constituted a stronghold on the border between the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of France, maintaining an important military garrison there.

As of the 17th century, its strategic importance would decline, since the Treaty of the Pyrenees moved the French border to its current location, a period in which the citadel would gradually decline. The movement of the military garrisons to enclaves further south, as well as the transfer of the local government centers and the episcopal seat to the La Bastide Saint-Louis, the prosperous town where an important textile industry would develop, will make the citadel abandoned to ruin and rapidly deteriorating.

In the middle of the 19th century, the citadel would return to the splendor of yesteryear, being profusely restored to turn it into a notorious tourist attraction thanks to its historical and architectural importance. The architect Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc, who also restored Notre Dame Cathedral, was involved in the restoration work, and although his work on the citadel was not without controversy, he managed to brilliantly preserve its appearance as a medieval European city. With its narrow winding streets, buildings with half-timbered façades, artisan and guild trade quarters, the castle of the Counts of Carcassonne, the Saint-Nazaire basilica and its extraordinary double walls defended with bastions and towers, the citadel was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1997.

The citadel is today a true archaeological treasure; an important French tourist destination that perfectly combines history, architecture, art, culture and gastronomy, thanks to the wide range of catering establishments that exist in its network of medieval streets or the different medieval theater, music, dance or projection festivals audiovisual events that are held annually within its walls. In addition, in its hotel offer, the spectacular La Cité hotel stands out, with its neo-Gothic decoration and Art Déco spirit, and where personalities such as Winston Churchill, Walt Disney or Buster Keaton have stayed.

The spectacular and imposing nature of the citadel has also made it the setting for international blockbusters such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves by Kevin Reynolds or The Visitors by Jean-Marie Poiré thanks to its impressive walls and cobbled streets from the Middle Ages.

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