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Origin and history

The bastion of Montmorency is part of the fortifications of the lower town of Carcassonne, whose initial enclosure was built between 1355 and 1359 under the Counts of Armagnac. The wall, 2,800 metres long, was punctuated with round towers. The bastions, added at the end of the 16th century during the Wars of Religion, gradually disappeared, leaving only two examples: that of Montmorency and that of the Grosse Tower, known as Calvary. This bastion, of mumps type, has important dead angles and could have included a gallery with countermine.

The south face of the Montmorency bastion is decorated with a pediment niche, while the face is in two, supported by canal-decorated consoles. Lateral leggings, with their columns, are now very degraded, as is the frieze where traces of rinceaux remain. This monument, inscribed by decree of 13 April 1948, bears witness to the military adaptations of the Renaissance in an area marked by religious conflicts.

Located at the southeast corner of the old ramparts, the Montmorency bastion is a rare preserved example of the defensive architecture of this period. Its present state reflects the vicissitudes of time, while providing an overview of the fortification techniques used at the end of the sixteenth century. The approximate location at 2 Boulevard Camille Pelletan makes it possible to grasp its integration into the urban landscape of Carcassonne.

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