Legends make interesting reading - Carcassone

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I wrote about visiting the French city of Carcassone about this time in 2017. There is an interesting legend regarding the naming of the city. In the 8th century, there was war between Christians and Muslims in the area. Carcassone was under the rule of a Saracen (Muslim) princess named Carcas. Her husband had been killed. The legend says that Charles Charlesmagne laid siege to Carcassone but apparently this is not correct as the dates don’t match up. I presume Carcassone had another name at the time. However, the legend goes that, early in the sixth year of the siege, food and water were running out in the fortress. Lady Carcas had the bright idea of feeding a pig with wheat then throwing it from the towers to the army below. Charlesmagne, believing that the city must have had ample food to be feeding a pig on wheat, raised the siege. Seeing the success of her plan, Lady Carcas had her subjects ring all the bells in the city. One of the Charlesmagne’s men exclaimed ‘Carcas sonne’ (meaning ‘Carcas sounds’) This then became the name of the city. A replica of a bust of Lady Carcas welcomes visitors to the fortress at the entrance of the drawbridge. As can be seen in the photo, Carcassone was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. True or not, the legend makes a nice story.