Originally, Carcassonne was not on the Canal's route. It is only in 1810 that the port is opened after numerous complaints from the inhabitants noticing the extent to which other towns benefitt fron the Canal.The port is located next to the buzy commercial center of the town and it is advised to take a cab up town...

Pierre-Paul Riquet's first plans had been to locate Carcassonne on the Canal des Deux-Mers. In 1660 the town was widely known for its sheet factories , but the town did not want to contribute to the steep building cost of 100 000 livres, which were linked to the topographical difficuties of the ground. In front of their refusal , Pierre-Paul Riquet had the canal run in the plain and built instead a port in Trèbes which become then a major halt, in the 4 days trip Séte-Toulouse.

Under the inhabitants pressure, the States of Languedoc decided to change the canal's route and have it pass under the fortification walls of the mediaeval city. As soon as the port opened it favours the installation of distilleries establishments, sulphur refineries, press and barrel factories, foundries for manufacturing ploughs, pumps and taps and of course agricultural firms that made Carcassonne a very prosperous city.

In 1913 Guide to Aude list 39 wine merchants, 17 cooperage workshops, 22 brokers et 19 commission-agents, 17 cartwrights et 10 blacksmiths. It shows the full activity that was then in the Carcassonne port.

Founded in the XIIIth century on Roman vestiges Carcassone is divided into a lower part and the walled city. In 1998 Carcassonne was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Later the Wisigoths and then the region noblemen lived in the walled city. During the Cathar crusade the city was besiege and conquer by the kings of France .The walls were doubled and it then became a reserve city . It was slowly falling in ruins when in the end of the XVI(...)