History of the Canal du Midi

Through the pages that follow, will be presented the origin and history of the Canal of Two Seas, including the Canal du Midi, designed and built from 1662 by Pierre Paul Riquet (the salt tax farmer and steward of the armed Louis XIV) and the Canal Lateral a la Garonne said.

Together these two channels and their branches and links called "The Canal of Two Seas".

The work of the Canal du Midi is extraordinary for its size, the ingenuity of its supply system and by the titanic amount of work done on the short period of its construction.

In 1789, the revolutionaries débaptisent the Royal Canal in Languedoc, Canal du Midi, more popular and democratic.

The Canal has been a wonderful means of communication, transportation and economic development between East and West, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic during the 300 years of history. Wine and cereals have always been linked to the life of the Canal.

The channels of the South will experience their first decline in rents when they are put in the hands of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi. In 1898, the state takes possession of canux and binds the channels into a single channel. Now inextricably linked, they bear the name of Canal of Two Seas, to become in the 90s, the Canal des Deux Mers.

In 1925, the advent of motors and the oil disrupt the organization of the little people Canal boatman. Since Pierre Paul Riquet, the owners of boats (or boats decked barges post) lived as masters after God and Ricky, on the Canal.

Loisirs

Between Ocean and Mediterranean, the land of Occitane offers very diversified cultures.
The English influence is dominant in much of the western area, where you can find varieties of very important leisures.
Aquitaine has developed a
broad path for bikes through nature bound for Guyenne, Ascona or Landes Forest.
In the Midi-Pyrenees Haute Garonne, also offers a path tow with a bicycle track, Tarn Lot et Garonne and the Garonne and provides it also for 2011.

Golf courses in the fields of leisure scattered over the whole route from Bordeaux to Sète Canal.
Centers for lovers of motorcycles, airplanes, gliders or ultralight enthusiasts offer many starting points.

Streams and rivers along the canal offers possibilities of canoe kayak, but also fisheries and river navigation.

These regions is very wellknown for the creation of art and therefor many artists and craftspeople installed facilities in highly varied, paint, glassware, through sculpture, leather, embroidery, jewelery boxes or dreams.

The history and art are everywhere in these three regions representing 9 departments. We can learn to know them through the many museums and cultural centers that dotted the land crossing from side to side by the Canal des Deux Mers.

You will find here much more details

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