Canal du Midi A World Heritage Site

By Jérôme Sabatier

Travel guide updated in february 2019.

The Canal du Midi, completed during the reign of Louis XIV, is extraordinary in its scope, representing one of the major works of civil engineering. Its conception, the ingenuity required by Pierre Paul Riquet to feed water to the canal and the creation of dozens of water features along its route, all testify to its exceptional technological innovation. It opened a safe and fast navigable link between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, thus providing commercial prosperity to the regions it crossed in the three centuries of its use.

At a length of 240 kilometers, the Canal du Midi was the largest construction site of its time and today remains the oldest canal in Europe still in operation. Beyond the technical challenges overcome by Pierre Paul Riquet, it is the aesthetics of his architecture and the landscapes created that make the Canal du Midi so unique.

Here you’ll find all the information necessary to prepare your trip and your stay along the Canal du Midi in order to discover this exceptional site of indisputable universal value. You will find the following under the sections for the site : the reasons for its selection for the World Heritage list, the history of the site, many practical informations (Tourist Offices, suggested tours, museums, events, transports), and a selection of accommodation and restaurants. Prices and opening hours shown are for 2019.

You'll also find tips (transport, pricing, activities ... ), anecdotes and all the possibilities for family-friendly visits to encourage children and families in their discovery.

Let us guide you...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jérôme Sabatier
• Release date: May 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9791096111626

Jérôme Sabatier

A word from the authorVisiting a Unesco World Heritage site is more than just simple tourism.It's a journey toward the discovery of cultures, history and nature.It's the opportunity to explore places that have contributed to the construction our history and our humanity, and that protect this heritage even today.It's the experience of being enriched by the collective universal memory that helps us understand the world around us.The sites on the World Heritage of Humanity list all have one thing in common: their universal nature. They teach us that the world – since antiquity – has been fashioned by often commercial crossroads encouraging cultural, scientific and religious fusions. They teach us that openness to others and exchange are indeed sources of prosperity for all societies.To travel to the heart of these World Heritage sites is to choose to embark on an ethnological, anthropological, sociological, historical, architectural, cultural or religious voyage ... or all this at once! In short, it represents a tourism based on tolerance among civilizations and on respect for future generations.Let's protect our fragile universal heritage. And let's pass it on to our children.

Book preview

Canal du Midi cover 2019 small

Table of Contents

Cover

Discover the Canal du midi

CANAL DU MIDI

World Heritage

History

Cultural Landscapes

Pierre Paul Riquet

The VNF

Transport

From Sète to Capestang

Sète (34200)

Marseillan (34340)

Agde (34300)

Vias (34450)

Portiragnes (34420)

Villeneuve-Lès-Béziers (34420)

Béziers (34500)

Colombiers (34440)

Le Malpas (34440)

Poilhès (34310)

Capestang (34310)

Eating

From Canal de la Robine to Carcassonne

Canal de la Robine

Sallèles d’Aude (11590)

Narbonne (11100)

Le Somail (11120)

Argens-Minervois (11200)

Homps (11200)

La Redorte (11700)

Marseillette (11800)

Trèbes (11800)

Carcassonne (11000)

Sleeping / Eating

From Bram to Toulouse

Bram (11150)

Castelnaudary (11400)

Naurouze (11320)

The Sources of the Canal du Midi

Saint Ferréol (31250)

Back on the Canal du Midi

Avignonet-Lauragais and Port Lauragais (31290)

Négra (31450)

Montgiscard (31450)

Ramonville Saint-Agne (31520)

Toulouse (31000)

Eating

The 10 criteria used by UNESCO for World Heritage classification

This Travel Guide

logo 2018

Discover the Canal du midi, classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Find all the information necessary to prepare and enjoy your stay. 

Enjoy reading and especially, … bon voyage !

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Here you’ll find all the information necessary to prepare your trip and your stay along the Canal du Midi in order to discover this exceptional site of indisputable universal value. You will find the following under the sections for the site : the reasons for its selection for the World Heritage list, the history of the site, information on Tourist Offices and suggested tours, general information about museums in the area, an events calendar, practical information on transport (getting there and getting around at the site), and a selection of accommodation and restaurants. Informations, prices and opening hours shown are for 2019.

You'll also find tips (transport, pricing, activities...), anecdotes and all the possibilities for family-friendly visits to encourage children and families in their discovery.

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The other travel guides from the France's World Heritage Sites collection

Guides 2019 UK petit

Join us on www.france-world-heritage.com. In addition to the content, you will find: news, events not to be missed, interactive maps, hundreds of photographs, social networks...

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Awards wonCanal du Midi

CANAL DU MIDI

Visit time : 2 to 4 days.

The Canal du Midi, completed during the reign of Louis XIV, is extraordinary in its scope, representing one of the major works of civil engineering. Its conception, the ingenuity required by Pierre Paul Riquet to feed water to the canal and the creation of dozens of water features along its route, all testify to its exceptional technological innovation. It opened a safe and fast navigable link between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, thus providing commercial prosperity to the regions it crossed in the three centuries of its use.

At a length of 240 kilometers, the Canal du Midi was the largest construction site of its time and today remains the oldest canal in Europe still in operation. Beyond the technical challenges overcome by Pierre Paul Riquet, it is the aesthetics of his architecture and the landscapes created that make the Canal du Midi so unique.

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Carte Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi is listed as a World Heritage Site of Humanity by Unesco since 1996.

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Map

Online interactive Map with all addresses and locations. Street View. On the website, at the bottom of page.

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World Heritage

In 1994, the Voies Navigables de France (Waterways of France), which manages the canal, presented a proposal to classify the Canal du Midi as a World Heritage Site. The regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées subsequently submitted its candidacy to the World Heritage List in June 1995.

UNESCO accepted its candidature on December 6, 1996 for the classification of the Canal du Midi. Registered under this heritage site is the initial work of Pierre-Paul Riquet: the canal between Toulouse and