Malpas Tunnel

The Oppidum d'Ensérune is an ancient hill-town (or oppidum) near the village of Nissan-lez-Ensérune, France, located between Béziers and Narbonne close to the D609 (formerly RN9) and Canal du Midi. It has been listed since 1935 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The settlement was occupied without interruption between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD on a hill with good views over the coastal plain, being close to the Via Domitia, the Montady lake, and fertile agricultural land below. There is a museum on the site which offers a display of some of the finds on the site, as well as giving more information about the fort and the field system. Below the oppidum was the swamp of Montady, (centred on 43°19′12″N 3°07′24″E ), which is now wedge shaped fields separated by irrigation ditches that converge in the centre. In the 13th century, the swamp was drained; the ditches allowed water to flow to the centre of the circular depression, from which it was conveyed through underground pipes several kilometres to the south. The drainage is still functional and remains in use.

The Étang de Montady (English: "pond of Montady") is a drained endoreic pond or lagoon, is now more accurately a former freshwater wetland, located near Montady and Colombiers, midway between Béziers and Narbonne in the western department of Hérault in southern France.

Colombiers (French pronunciation: [kɔlɔ̃bje] ; Occitan: Colombièrs) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

Nissan-lez-Enserune (French pronunciation: [nisɑ̃ lez‿ɑ̃seʁyn]; Occitan: Nissa d'Ausseruna, Niça d'Ausseruna), also spelled Nissan-lez-Ensérune, is a French commune in the department of Hérault, region of Occitania, situated just south of Béziers. Its inhabitants are called Nissanais in French.

Montady (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃tadi]; Occitan: Montadin) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.

Poilhes (/pɔj/) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.

Maureilhan (French pronunciation: [moʁɛjɑ̃]; Occitan: Maurelhan) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

Lespignan (French pronunciation: [lɛspiɲɑ̃]; Occitan: Lespinhan) is a commune in the Hérault département in the Occitanie region in southern France. Experiencing a Mediterranean climate, it is drained by the Aude River and various other small streams. The commune boasts a remarkable natural heritage: three Natura 2000 sites (the "Lower Plain of the Aude," the "Lower Course of the Aude," and the "Hills of Narbonnais"), two protected areas (the "Lower Plain of the Aude and Collines d'Enserune" and the "Lower Plain of the Aude"), and eight natural areas of ecological, faunal, and floristic interest. Lespignan is a rural commune with 3,355 inhabitants in 2022, having experienced a significant population increase since 1962. It is located within the Lespignan urban area and is part of the Béziers catchment area. Its inhabitants are called Lespignanais or Lespignanaises.

Maraussan (French pronunciation: [maʁosɑ̃]; Occitan: Marauçan) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It lies approximately 8 km northwest of Béziers, on route D14 ( Av de Béziers ), a busy route for commuters to Béziers. Chateau Perdiguier lies just outside the town on the cross road D39 (Route de Tarbaka) leading down to the river Orb.

Salles-d'Aude (French pronunciation: [sal dod] ; Occitan: Salas d'Aude) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.

Fonseranes Locks (French: écluses de Fonseranes, les neuf écluses) are a flight of staircase locks on the Canal du Midi near Béziers. They consist of eight oval-shaped lock chambers, characteristic of the Canal du Midi, and nine gates, which allow boats to be raised a height of 21.5 metres (71 ft) over a distance of 300 metres (980 ft). The flight was originally built as an eight-rise, which together with the ninth lock (the écluse de Notre-Dame, 710 metres (0.44 mi) to the northeast) allowed boats to cross the Orb river on a level and re-enter the canal further downstream. The "nine locks" name dates from this time. However, in 1858 an aqueduct was built to replace the crossing of the Orb. Boats now enter and leave the lower end of the flight through the side of chamber seven, which is permanently kept at its upper water level. The flight is therefore effectively made up of six locks. The lower gates of the seventh chamber are now permanently closed; the eighth chamber and the ninth lock, the pre-1858 route descending to the Orb, are disused. This side exit from chamber seven causes some confusion in describing the flight of locks. While most sources now ignore the disused eighth chamber, some still describe the flight as a seven-rise, despite chamber seven being permanently at the lower canal level. In 1983 the Fonseranes inclined plane was built adjacent to the locks, to allow commercial traffic and boats too large for the locks to bypass them. Unfortunately the project encountered technical problems, and after many years of attempting to solve them the inclined plane was abandoned in 2001. Traditional buildings such as the stables and the lock keeper's house still remain. These and the locks themselves have made the site the third most popular tourist destination in Languedoc-Roussillon, after the Pont du Gard and the town of Carcassonne. Though Pierre-Paul Riquet rightly receives much credit and acknowledgement for the creation of the Canal du Midi, we may forget that many individual parts of the canal were built by subcontractors other than Riquet. The subcontractors for these locks were two illiterate brothers, Michel and Pierre Medailhes. Many of the workers were women.

Fleury (French pronunciation: [flœʁi] or [fløʁi]; Occitan: Fluris, [flyˈɾis]), unofficially Fleury-d'Aude for disambiguation, is a commune in the Aude department, in the administrative region of Occitania, southern France.