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Visit Beziers

Beziers lies in the Herault department of Languedoc-Roussillon between Beziers and Montpellier. It is an attractive town which rises up a hill from the River Orb, and a many spanned old stone bridge, to St Nazaires cathedral at the top.Beziers is at the centre of the largest wine-producing region in France and is famous for its wine and its bullfights!

History

The town fortunes have changed dramatically at regular points in history. Beziers was a Roman colony in 36BC and an important point on the route from Rome to Madrid. In 1209 the town was burnt down and its 20,000 inhabitants put to death in the Catholic crusade against the Cathars. In the nineteenth century the town had its heyday with growth in the wine industry. Fortunes have declined again since then but Bezier remains a lovely town and a good base for visiting the Herault region. See history of Beziers for details.

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Sights

Go to the tourist office where you can pick up a tourist leaflet offering four different walking routes covering the main sights of the town. Choose from:

- Between Romanesque and Gothic - see the cathedral and cloister, the town’s churches and chapel and St Aphrodise’s basilica.

- Beziers Over the Centuries - the winding streets of the old city of Beziers and some of its historical monuments.

- The Golden Age of the 19^th Century - public and private buildings built during the 19^th century

- A Stroll through the gardens - wander through a selection of English style landscaped gardens and formal French-style gardens.

Saint Nazaires Cathedral dominates the view of Beziers from below. It was built in the 12-15^th centuries and has quite an unusual appearance. It is quite stark from some angles and has some interesting castle-like towers. It has a lovely 14^th century cloister and a pretty ‘Bishop’s Garden’ with great views over the valley below.

North-east of the cathedral in Place de la Madeleine is the Eglise St Madeleine (St Madeleine’s Church). As the town of Beziers fell to the Albigeois Crusaders, the Catholics in the town, who had remained to fight off the crusade along with the Cathars, fled into the church. However the crusaders showed no mercy even to their fellow Catholics and torched the church and burnt all within.

Another key church in Beziers is the St Aphrodise’s Basilica which is built on the tomb of the town’s patron saint who arrived on a camel from Egypt.

The main thing to do in Beziers, though, is to wander through the old streets, admiring the architecture, browsing in the shops and stopping at a café to watch the world go by. Outside the medieval streets one of the main streets in the town is the Allées Paul Riquet which is a long esplanade, shaded by trees, lined with shops and cafes and filled rather like the Ramblas in Barcelona with a variety of street art such as living statues. At one end of the Allées is the 19^th century theatre and at the other the lovely garden, the Plateau des Poetes.

Museums and Art Galleries in Beziers

There are four museums...

Le Musee des Beaux Arts (Hotel Fabregat) - a collection of paintings including works by Decamps, Degas and Rodin

Le Musee des Beaux Arts (Hotel Fayet) - a collection of sculptures by local artist Jean-Antoine Injalbert. There is a very pleasant internal courtyard from where you can listen to concerts and theatre productions.

Le Musee du Biterrois - a museum with artefacts ranging from prehistoric to nowadays.

Le Museum d’Histoire Naturelle - diverse collections of natural history.

...and two art galleries in Beziers:

Espace Taurin - dedicated to bull fighting including some works by Goya

Espace Riquet - an ancient convent which is now a contemporary art museum.

Places to visit near to Beziers

Near the town is the Fonseranes Canal Lock, a succession of seven locks allowing boats to manoeuvre a 21 meter level change. This lock is the most remarkable on the Canal du Midi.

The Museum and archaeological site at Enserune gives an interesting insight into life in the region dating back more than 2500 years - see Enserune visitor information

Beziers Photos (click any picture to visit)