Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a walled city built by the Romans and then taken over by the French. It used to stand on the border between France and Spain, making it a necessary fortification to protect the French, but eventually the Spanish border was moved closer to the Pyrenees mountains, reducing the need for this castle.
Inside the walls, we visited the Basilica with its beautiful stained glass, but we learned about a religious crusade that raged here in the Languedoc lands. In the 11th century, a new religion appeared in this region called Cathars, and they didn't adhere to the Catholic beliefs. They didn't pay homage to the Pope, but called themselves Christians. They believed that the good God created everything immaterial like the soul and the evil power created material things. Therefore getting rid of material possessions would bring you closer to God. Of course, the opulent Catholic Churches seemed to be evil places to the Cathars, who did not build churches, but held worship in their houses and believed in reincarnation.
The Catholic Church became concerned about the rapid spread of Cathar, and Pope Innocent III called for all crusade or war of terror to "kill them all, God will know his own". It is estimated that around half a million men, women and children were killed during this terrible time and this also started the Inquisition as Cathars were tortured prior to dying.
Eventually the Cathars fled to new lands such as North America. This type of history is really hard to reconcile with the concept of a loving, healing Christianity. It's hard to think about the atrocities that have been committed in the name of religion.
But interestingly, at a shop nearby the Basilica, there were witches for sale reminding me of Galicia, Spain!Read more