The Canal du Midi at Béziers and the Nine Locks of Fonsérannes

When it was opened in 1682, the Canal du Midi was called the Eighth Wonder of the World, a 240km waterway connecting Toulouse to the Mediterranean. From its highest point at Naurouze, the canal descends 189 metres to the sea via 45 locks. Perhaps the most impressive of these hydraulic lifts is the flight just outside Béziers.

Originally, the Nine Locks of Fonsérannes allowed canal boats to climb 25 metres (82 feet) from the river Orb. Today, only seven are in use because, in 1858, the Orb viaduct was opened. Since then, canal traffic has been spared what was often a hazardous river crossing.

Béziers was also the birthplace of the canal’s builder, Pierre-Paul Riquet, and going back even further in time to 1209, Béziers was the site of the first and bloodiest massacre of the Albigensian Crusade. 

If you are interested in learning more about the canal, the crusade and other historic events in this part of the Midi, you may like to read my book ‘Lauragais: Steeped in History, Soaked in Blood’.

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