THE CANAL DU MIDI
The Canal du Midi is a 240 km long canal in Southern France. The canal connects the Garonne River to the Etang de Thau on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des 2 Mers joining the Atlantic to the throw pillow covers. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Mediterranean port of Sète, which was founded to serve as the eastern terminus of the canal.
History : The original purpose of the Canal du Midi was to be a shortcut between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, avoiding the long sea voyage around hostile Spain, Barbary pirates, and a trip that in the 17th century required a full month of sailing. Pierre-Paul Riquet, a rich tax-farmer in the Languedoc region, first had to persuade Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the finance minister of Louis XIV. A Royal Commission was appointed and in 1665 recommended the project which was finally ordered by Louis XIV in 1666, with the help of about 12 000 workers. This represents 150 miles of canal.
The canal has 91 locks which serve to climb and descend a total of 620 ft. The canal has 328 structures, including not only the but also , dams and tunnel. At the town of Béziers there was a staircase of 8 locks at Fonsérannes to bring it to the river Orb. The design of the Canal included the first canal passage ever built through a tunell ( the Malpas tunnel). The Canal du Midi passes through a 570 ft long tunnel through a hill at Enserune.
The Canal du Midi was inscribes as World Heritage Site in 1996.
