Agde in Southern France

19 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Quai Commandant Réveille © Christian Ferrer/cc-by-sa-4.0

Quai Commandant Réveille © Christian Ferrer/cc-by-sa-4.0

Agde is a commune in the Hérault department in Southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. Agde is known for the distinctive black basalt used in local buildings such as the cathedral of Saint Stephen, built in the 12th century to replace a 9th-century Carolingian edifice built on the foundations of a fifth-century Roman church. Bishop Guillaume fortified the cathedral’s precincts and provided it with a 35-metre donjon (keep). The Romanesque cloister of the cathedral was demolished in 1857.   read more…

On the Canal du Midi from Toulouse to the Mediterranean

14 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

Carcasonne © Pinpin

Carcasonne © Pinpin

The Canal du Midi (Occitan: Canal de las Doas Mars, meaning canal of the two seas) is a 240 km (150 mi) long canal in Southern France (French: le Midi). The canal connects the Garonne River to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Mediterranean port of Sète—which was founded to serve as the eastern terminus of the canal. The Canal du Midi was built by Pierre-Paul Riquet.   read more…

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