Canal du Midi (France)
N 43° 19.220 E 003° 28.048
31T E 537903 N 4796494
The Canal du Midi, exceptional engineering work built in and 1667-1694, is a 240 km long canal in the south of France that connects the Garonne River to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean...
Waymark Code: WM6HEA
Location: Occitanie, France
Date Posted: 06/06/2009
Views: 29
The Canal du Midi is 240 km long (360 km with his four lateral canals), in average 18 m wide and goes from the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean coast to Toulouse, where flows into the Garonne, that goes to the Atlantic: it links the two seas and has 328 structures (locks, lifts, aqueducts, spillways, bridges, tunnels.
Its architect Pierre-Paul-Riquet was a tax collector from Béziers and presented his project to the minister Colbert and to the Versailles court: only the king Louis XIV believed in him because he thought that it was the ideal connection between the port of Séte, that was under construction, and the ocean. 12000 men worked here and Riquet became its architect and had to have many capacities. When money didn’t arrive from the court (the project cost 15 million libras) he had to spent his; he died before the canal was finished. He was conscious that he was creating a symbol of the power beyond a functional communication wateway: he ensured the quality of the architecture and the works were designed with monumental dignity and simplicity. He was also very conscious of the impact of the canal to the landscape, so he planted trees and plantations along it. We have seen the beautiful canal at Fonséranes, near Béziers, where are nine lifts that go over 25 m and are 315 m long, a port and a bridge, that makes the canal cross the river Orb.
Canal du Midi is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in France for the beauty of its landscapes, its river barge tours and its history. Try to rent a house-boat and discover the beauty of the Canal...
Lot of interesting details about Canal du Midi you can find here...