Dame Carcas is the legendary Saracen lady who, the story goes, saved Carcassonne from Charlemagne by throwing a well-fed pig over the walls. Her stone bust greets you at the Porte Narbonnaise, the main gate of the medieval Cité. The legend also claims to explain the city's name: when the bells rang in victory, a soldier cried 'Carcas sonne!', 'Carcas is ringing!'.
Dame Carcas at a glance
- Where: a bust beside the drawbridge of the Porte Narbonnaise, the eastern entrance to the walled Cité of Carcassonne.
- Created: the bust at the gate is a replica; the original, from the 16th century, is kept in the Château Comtal inside the Cité.
- What it is today: the symbol of Carcassonne and the first thing most visitors see as they cross into the Cité.
- Time needed: a few minutes at the bust; allow half a day for the Cité as a whole.
The story of the siege
The legend is set in the 8th century, when Carcassonne was in Muslim hands. Charlemagne, emperor of the Franks, besieges the city, whose Saracen king Balaach is captured and killed. His widow, Carcas, takes over the defence. With too few soldiers, she has straw dummies armed with crossbows set along the walls and runs from one to another, firing bolts herself, so that the besiegers believe the garrison is still large.
The siege drags on for five years, or seven in some versions, until food runs out. Dame Carcas has the last supplies counted: a pig and a sack of wheat. She feeds the wheat to the pig and has it thrown from the highest tower. Seeing a pig fattened on grain, Charlemagne concludes that the city could hold out for ever and lifts the siege. Carcas has the bells rung, or a horn sounded, and one of the emperor's men cries 'Carcas sonne!'. In some tellings she then opens the gates, converts to Christianity and marries a Frankish knight.
What to look for
- The bust: the stylised stone face of Dame Carcas on a column by the drawbridge, a favourite photo spot as you enter the Cité.
- The Porte Narbonnaise: the twin towers of the main gate, with the drawbridge and the gap between the outer and inner walls.
- The double ring of walls: from the gate you can see how the Cité is protected by two lines of ramparts, the kind of defences the legend imagines Carcas defending.
- The original bust: inside the Château Comtal, where the 16th-century original is kept.
- Wall paintings in the castle: a 12th-century mural in the Château Comtal has been identified as showing scenes from the epic Fierabras, one of the old poems that share characters with the legend.
Legend or history?
Dame Carcas almost certainly never existed. Charlemagne could not have besieged the city, since his father Pepin the Short had already taken it from the Saracens in 759. The story was first written down in a poem by Jean Dupré published in 1534, and told in detail by the historians Guillaume Catel, before 1626, and Guillaume Besse in 1645. Scholars think it grew out of lost Occitan epic poems of the 11th or 12th century, and the trick of showing off food to a besieging army is much older: a similar story is told of Bias of Priene in ancient Greece. The name Carcassonne is older still; in Roman times the town was already called Carcaso.
Tips for your visit
- Arrive early in the morning to photograph the bust and the gate before the tour groups come through.
- Enter by the Porte Narbonnaise and leave by the Porte d'Aude on the west side to walk right through the Cité.
- Look out for local shops selling Dame Carcas biscuits, a small souvenir that keeps the legend alive.
Nearby
- Château Comtal: the castle inside the Cité, where you can walk part of the ramparts and see the original bust.
- Basilica of Saint-Nazaire: the Romanesque and Gothic church of the Cité, known for its stained-glass windows.
- The Lices: the long open space between the two rings of walls, best for seeing the scale of the fortifications.
- Pont Vieux: the medieval bridge over the Aude that links the Cité with the lower town, the Bastide Saint-Louis.
See Carcassonne with World City Trail
Our Carcassonne scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 46 minutes of walking. It includes La Cité and its ramparts and the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Carcassonne.
Play the Carcassonne scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Carcassonne →
Play the outdoor escape game in Carcassonne →
Facts checked in October 2026.