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Les Halles
Allées Paul Riquet, XXIth building
Nouvelles Galeries, 1930
Memory slabs on the theater frontFonsérannes and the Canal du Midi
The Canal du Midi is a masterpiece built from 1662 to 1680 by Pierre-Paul Riquet, an ingenier and a businessman born in Béziers from a wealthy family. The canal allows a short cut from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and no wonder if there has been dozens of projects to build it since the Roman Empire. None were able to solve the various difficulties on the way before Pierre-Paul Riquet.
As the canal had to pass the “Seuil de Naurouze” (Ground sill of Naurouze or Pass of Naurouze), 189 meters above sea level, the locks needed a lot of water. He managed to find enough water that could be diverted to feed the locks.
Fonsérannes, very close to Béziers was another difficult place. He built a series of 9 locks, one after the other, with a difference in level of 25 meters on a length of 315 meter. The site is outstanding. For more, see my Fonsérannes page (to come)
