Page 482 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

12 13 site. The Musée de l’Oppidum
d’Ensérune has a good archa­
Minerve Béziers eological collection, including
Celtic, Greek and Roman vases,
! E6 ⌂ Hérault n 9 rue des ! E6 ⌂ Hérault ~ £ @ jewellery and weapons. The
Martyrs; www.minervois- n Place du Forum; www.
tourisme.fr beziers-mediteranee.com Château de Raissac (between
Béziers and Lignan) houses an
In the parched, arid hills of the Famous for its bullfights and unusual 19th­century faïence
museum in its stables.
Minervois, surrounded by
rugby, and the wine of the
EXPERIENCE Languedoc and Roussillon fluence of the rivers Cesse and turned in on itself, its roads Caserne St-Jacques § 04 67

surrounding region, Béziers
vines and not much else,
Musée du Biterrois
has several other points of
Minerve appears defiant on
interest. The town seems
its rocky outcrop at the con­
" ⌂ Ramp du 96ème,
Briant. It is defended by the
36 81 61 # 10am–6pm Tue–
leading up to the massive
14th­century Cathédrale St­
Sun (to 5pm Tue–Fri Oct–May)
“Candela” (Candle), an octag­
onal tower which is all that
¢ 1 Jan, Easter, 1 May, 25 Dec
Nazaire, with its fine sculp ture,
remains of the medieval
stained glass and frescoes.
Musée de l’Oppidum
château. In 1210, the small
In 1209, several thousand citi­
d'Ensérune
zens were massacred in the
town resisted the vengeful
Simon de Montfort, scourge
"= ⌂ Nissan-lez-
crusade against the Cathars.
of the Cathars, in a siege last­
9:30am–5:30pm daily;
ordered not to discriminate
ing seven weeks. This cul­
May–Aug: 9:30am–6:30pm
minated in 140 Cathars being
between Catholics and
burned at the stake.
¢ Public hols ∑ enserune.fr
Cathars, but to “Kill them all.
God will recog nize his own!”
Today visitors enter Minerve The papal legate’s troops were Ensérune # Sep–Apr:
by a high bridge spanning the The Musée du Biterrois holds Château de Raissac
gorge. Turn right and follow exhibitions (in French only) on ⌂ Rte de Lignan sur Orr
the route of the Cathars past local history, wine and the # By appt ∑ raissac.com
the Romanesque arch of the Canal du Midi, engineered in
Porte des Templiers to the the late 17th cen tury by Paul
12th­century Église St­ Étienne. Riquet, Béziers’s most famous 14
Outside the church is a son. His statue is on Allées
crudely carved dove, symbol Paul Riquet, which is lined Narbonne
of the Cathars, and within is a by rows of plane trees and ! E7 ⌂ Aude £ @ n 31
5th­century white marble several large canopied restau­ rue Jean Jaurès; www.
altar table, one of the oldest rants, adding a civilized focus narbonne-tourisme.com
artifacts in the region. to this other wise business­
A rocky path follows the like town. Narbonne is a cheerful town
riverbed below the town, Overlooking the Béziers amid a booming wine region.
where the water has cut out plain and the mountains that The town is bisected by the
caves and two bridges from lie to the north is Oppidum tree­lined Canal de la Robine;
the soft limestone. d’Ensérune, a superb Roman to the north is the restored
medieval quarter with good
shops and res taurants. One
CANAL DU MIDI of the town’s most intriguing
tourist attrac tions, the Roman
The first of the grands projets to have shaped modern
France was the brainchild of Bézier-based salt-tax baron Horreum is here, an under­
Paul Riquet. His 240-km (149-mile) waterway, completed ground ware house dating
in 1681 and linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, was back to the 1st century BC,
the greatest engineering feat of its time. Revolutionizing when Narbonne was a major
local economies, it was the lifeblood of trade in the region. port and capital of the largest
It still plays a key role, carrying tourists. Roman province in Gaul.
The town prospered in the
Middle Ages until the 15th
century, when the harbour
silted up and the course of the
River Aude altered, taking
Narbonne’s fortunes with it.
A grandiose cathedral was
under construction, but the
full design was aban doned,
and just the chancel, begun in
1272, became the Cathédrale
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