BÉZIERS

About

Towering over the Orb and the Canal du Midi, the city made rich by vines in the 19th century abounds in hidden treasures.

Seemingly inaccessible when viewed from the canal bridge straddling the Orb, Béziers (Hérault) looks down from the lofty heights of its majestic cathedral St Nazaire, on a history stretching back 27 centuries. To get to the top, the walker can choose from a maze of slopes and staircases climbing the 60 or so metres separating the river from the two hills, the Saint-Jacques and Saint-Nazaire districts on which the town is built.

The city, enriched in the second half of the 19th century by the wine boom, jealously guards its architectural treasures; here a Gothic pinnacle, there a Renaissance window and the ubiquitous heavy gates behind which hide sumptuous private mansions, signs of the feverish “folly” which swept through the Biterrois region in the 19th century, a time when the region was all the rage for the Parisian“smart-set”. Saved from mildew and above all phylloxera, and with the help of the Canal du Midi and the arrival of the railways, Béziers became the richest city in Languedoc. The self-roclaimed “world capital of wine” carved out an appropriately immoderate destiny for itself – a past to which the grand Haussmann-style boulevards bear ample witness.

The Allées Paul-Riquet, the backbone of the town adorned in 1838 with a statue of Paul Riquet (the work of David d’Angers) and lined with plane trees in 1848 are one example. At each end stands a symbol of success: to the north the splendid Bonbonnière theatre built in 1844 in the Italian style. To the south, the plateau des Poètes is a pleasant English garden, designed by Bűhler. Here, the shady avenues, water features and plashing fountains celebrate one of the region’s most famous sons, the sculptor Injalbert who created a colony of tritons and nymphs around his monumental Titan.

Each year, 700,000 visitors walk down the avenues leading towards the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre tucked into the Saint-Jacques district. Or their more modern equivalent, built in 1905 in the Spanish style by Fernand Castelbon de Beauxhostes, a passionate sponsor of the theatre and the lyric arts. The biggest amphitheatre in France (13,100 seats) plays host to bullfights at the famous Feria on August 15th. This old wine city, full of art, theatre and culture, is the perfect showcase for its own rich heritage.

“Follies” in the vineyards

These “Biterrois follies” bear ample witness to the economic boom Béziers experienced thank to its wine culture. While the “Saint-Aramon” vines slaked the thirst of the miners and metal workers of the late 19th century industrial period, outside the town, in an ocean of vines, grew the “Palais de l’Aramonie”. Such wine châteaux mushroomed in the Biterrois countryside, vying with each other in terms of architectural boldness (and occasionally bordering on bad taste). 
It is said that the profits from a single harvest back then sufficed to fund one of these châteaux, designed by the era’s greatest architects such as Bordeaux’s Garros. Baïssan, La Gayonne, La Devèze and Lirou count among these “follies”. The Château of Raissac is the only one in the region to market its wines. Restored over 20 years ago in the non-conformist style of its owners, Christine and Jean Viennet, Raissac is also home to an earthenware museum.

Spoken languages : German – English – Spanish – French

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