The Canal du Midi, designed and built by Pierre-Paul Riquet in 1662-1681, is a remarkable work of engineering, justifying its inclusion in the Unesco world heritage list in 1996, and one of the most popular cruising waterways in France. Préparer et profiter de votre séjour. The Canal du Midi is one of the oldest canals of Europe still in operation (the prototype being the Briare Canal). 2016 marks the 350th anniversary of the royal decree authorising Riquet to build the canal, and the 20th anniversary of the world heritage listing. The Canal du Midi is a commercial waterway and is part of the The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 29.87 metres long and 5.49 metres wide. Work began on April 15, 1667, with the speed of the project remarkable considering men using picks and shovels dug the canal, in the process removing 7 million cubic metres of earth over 240km. Reports indicate queues of boats waiting to pass through locks, where once the éclusiers would ‘encourage’ (sometimes vigorously) boats in so as to fill them as well as managing the actual operation.Download this waterway’s information (including extra detail) as a PDF document (PK 198.8 Malpas tunnel (length 161m), Oppidum d’Ensérune ruins 1500m l/bPK 176.5 Bridge (Sériège), quay u/s l/b, restaurantPK 167.7 Canal narrows, one-way traffic (applies only to large vessels)PK 131.6 Double staircase lock (Saint-Martin), bridgePK 76.5 Pumping station, concrete quay under a treePK 51.6 Lock (Océan), bridge, end of summit levelPK 3.3 Bridge (Matabiau), narrow passage (former lock)Download this waterway’s information (including extra detail) as a PDF document (Hotel barges are elegant and supremely comfortable, converted from traditional vessels or created as cruising boutique hotels from new.
commasEnter a place or a list of places separated by To the right of the lock lies the spur canal that also connects with the river Hérault, below the weir, that provides a route to the sea.Junction of the Canal du Midi with the River Hérault which carries the navigation for a short distance upstream.Junction of the Canal du Midi with the River Hérault which carries the navigation for a short distance downstream.Junction of the Canal du Midi with the Étang de Thau East of Agde lock, the canal uses the course of the Hérault for 1km (see under Hérault).Download this waterway’s information (including extra detail) as a PDF document (The Midi has just cause to be popular. There is a control panel at the lock-side with buttons. The maximum headroom is 1.80 metres. As such the UNESCO Organization has put it on its list of World Heritage Sites (1996). The Canal du Midi is a summit-level canal, climbing from Toulouse on the Atlantic side over a distance of 52 km to the Seuil de Naurouze or summit level, where the feeder canal enters. It runs for 240.01 kilometres through 95 locks from Port de l'Embouchure (Toulouse)(where it joins the Canal de Garonne - (Main line)and the Canal de Brienne) to Pointe des Onglous(where it joins the Étang de Thau). This charming seaside village is located on the river Herault and is one of the oldest … There are no links to external websites from here.Enter a place or a list of places separated by Here starts the ‘heavy engineering’ of this truly unique canal, where nature forms a constantly delightful backdrop to all manner of staircase locks, aqueducts, siphons, spillways, feeders and one tunnel.At Fonserannes the six- (formerly eight-) lock staircase lifts boats to the ‘long pound’ (grand bief) which follows the 31.50m contour for no less than 54km to Argens-Minervois. It is to this point that Riquet succeeded in bringing a more-than-adequate supply of water by an ingenious feeder system, the main components of which are the Saint-Ferréol reservoir, still efficient after more than three centuries of operation, the Rigole de la Montagne, 24km long, and the Rigole de la Plaine, 35km long.