What is "carcassonne"

Carcassonne (; ; ) is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the Region of Languedoc-Roussillon.

Occupied since the Neolithic period, Carcassonne is located in the Aude plain between two great axes of circulation linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea and the Massif Central to the Pyrénées. Its strategic importance was quickly recognized by the Romans who occupied its hilltop until the demise of the Western Roman Empire and was later taken over in the fifth century by the Visigoths who founded the city. Also thriving as a trading post due to its location, it saw many rulers who successively built up its fortifications, until its military significance was greatly reduced by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.

The city is famous for the Cité de Carcassonne, a medieval fortress restored by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1853 and added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. Consequently, Carcassonne greatly profits from tourism but also counts manufacture and wine-making as some of its other key economic sectors.

Carcassonne is a tile-based German-style board game for two to five players, designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and published in 2000 by Hans im Glück in German and by Rio Grande Games (until 2012) and Z-Man Games (currently) in English. It received the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiele Preis awards in 2001. It is named after the medieval fortified town of Carcassonne in southern France, famed for its city walls. The game has spawned many expansions and spin-offs, and several PC, console and mobile versions.

Carcassonne is a medieval fortified city in France.

Carcassonne may also refer to:

• Cité de Carcassonne
• Carcassonne (board game), a board game by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
  • Carcassonne (video game), a video game adaptation

Carcassonne is a turn-based strategy video game, based upon the board game of the same name designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede for the Xbox 360, developed by Sierra Studios, and Windows Phone, developed by Exozet Games. The Xbox 360 game was released on June 27, 2007, and is the second designer board game to be released on Xbox Live Arcade, the first being Catan. The Windows Phone version was released on October 24, 2012. There is also a version for iOS operating system devices.