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Stay in Béziers

See the Tourist Guide on the left hand menu for details of hotels and restaurants in Béziers, along with campsite holiday options in the surrounding area.

Don't miss

  • "Niches et balcons" exhibition in Béziers

    From 23/02/2010 To 18/04/2010

    From 23 February to 18 April visit the exhibition called " Niches et balcons de Béziers" (niches and balconies of Béziers) at the Musée du Biterrois (museum of the Béziers region).

    More


Beziers, a real-life history book

Exploring the town of Béziers is like walking through a real life history book, where you’ll discover the story of the town itself along with many facts about France through the ages. But let’s start with the city…


6500 years BC


Important and extensive remains came to light during the excavation works for the town’s northern bypass, which show that the history and the population of Béziers are even more ancient than originally believed. Today, we know that this bend in the Orb River, at the foot of Saint-Nazaire hill, has been home to a settled population for the past 6,500 years.

The Roman occupation
The first historic remains date back to the foundation of the town by the Greeks in 6 BC. After this came the Roman occupation, when the town was an oppidum, linked to Narbonne by the Via Domitia. The production of grapes and olives developed here and the surrounding oak forests were cleared. When Rome fell, Gaul Narobonnais, the jewel of Roman Gaul, was invaded by warriors from the East, especially the Visigoths, who pillaged the region and established their capital in Narbonne.

Oh, it’s Charles Martel!
Although Charles Martel drove back the Saracens at Poitiers in 732 (all French people know this date in the History of France), he also conquered and occupied Béziers in 737 – in the process destroying the Roman arena – as he finished the task of chasing the Arab army to the other side of the Pyrenees…

The Crusades against the Cathars
One particular date holds an important place in the history of Béziers: the 22nd July 1209. On this day, the Crusade against the Cathars led to the pillage and burning of Béziers and the massacre of its residents in the church of La Madeleine. It has been renamed “Lo gran mazel” (“the great butchery”).

Béziers was home to heretics, known as “Cathars”, supported by the Trencavel, vassals of the Counts of Toulouse – excommunicated by the Pope because of their excessive tolerance to the Cathars. It’s one of the well known facts about France that the King’s army – led by Simon de Montfort for the fighting and the Pope’s Legate, Arnaud Amaury for religious concerns - set off against Languedoc, a very rich and completely independent region and the “chosen land” of the Cathars. “Kill them all, God recognises his Own” pronounced Arnaud Amaury to the head of the Crusaders’s army, who had asked him how to tell the difference between the Cathars and the “good” Catholics of Béziers, while his ill-disciplined soldiers were already destroying the town. This Crusade came to an end after forty years of pillaging and massacres.

Troubadours and the Commune
Following this terrible period, Béziers obtained its Communal Charter: a power of administration executed by the Consuls, who set up their Communal house on the site of the former Roman forum where the Hôtel de ville (Town Hall) stands today.

But, won over by the new practices which Eleanor of Aquitaine (future Queen of France and then of England, mother of Richard the Lionheart) had imposed on her Dukedom, Béziers adopted the “Cours d’amours” and the cause of the Troubadours, whose very name, of Occitan origin, means the language they spoke and sang (facts about France which many forget).  Their names were Guilhem Augier, Ramoun Gaucelm, Matfre Ermengaud…

This gentle way of life and the resulting cultural boom were unable to resist the troubles of the 14th century with locust swarms and famines and the Great Plague, which, from 1345, killed almost one third of the French population…

The Canal du Midi: France is eternally grateful to Pierre-Paul Riquet
An important period for Béziers began in 1604, when Pierre Paul Riquet was born in the town. This son of an Italian family, the Righetti, who lived first of all in Provence before moving to Languedoc, was going to transform the landscape of his land of adoption.

After becoming Farmer General for the salt tax in Languedoc (tax inspector), he obtained the authorisation of Louis XIV to build the Canal du Midi, which he had conceived and designed. He was the only one who had been able to find the solution for the permanent supply of water to this canal which links the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. He therefore ensured, developed and secured trade between the two seas and between the regions of Europe via the South. This led to a period of great prosperity for Béziers.
Today, thousands of tourist visit the city in order to see the amazing locks, bridges and other engineering works on the canal, or to go barging Canal du Midi-style. Béziers makes the perfect base for a Canal du Midi holiday. See the 'Canal du Midi' section of this website for more details.

Wine-making fortunes and southern prosperity
However, the most prosperous period in the history of Béziers came during the 19th century, when the boom in industry, agriculture (winemaking), transport and trade meant that the local vineyards were able to supply wine to all of France and also to other parts of the world. This activity provided work for thousands of people, resulting in a massive increase in the population.

Wine production gave rise to massive fortunes which led to the construction of “wine chateaux” throughout the winemaking area of Béziers, the development of the southern railway company, the construction of the Allées Paul-Riquet, the Plateau des Poètes and the theatre, as well as the arena, where Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré came to present their works.  
This period of opulence came to an end at the start of the 20th century, when the vineyards of Béziers entered a period of overproduction, resulting in sales difficulties (from 1901). In 1907, this crisis led to the winemakers’ revolt, which Clémenceau punished severely. This episode in history has remained deeply ingrained in the memories of the residents of Béziers.


Jean Moulin, the honour of France
As in other parts of France, the 1st World War depleted the town’s population, and the inter-war period was a quiet one for Béziers. But defeat in 1940 and the German occupation was a serious wound to the easily offended pride of the residents of Béziers, and this roused them.

It was in a house on the Champ de Mars, where Jean Moulin was born, that the spirit of revolt grew: Jean Moulin, Préfet by profession, “Biterrois” (resident of Béziers) by birth; democrat and a firm believer in freedom, became the hero of the French Resistance. He unified the different Resistance movements and coordinated them during the hardest periods of the Occupation, before being betrayed, arrested and tortured.

He died in the train which was carrying him away to deportation… 



Béziers today
A town of over 70,000 inhabitants, at the centre of a group of communities with 102,000 inhabitants, Béziers France lies at the heart of a very popular tourist region. Many budget airlines’ cheap flights to France serve regional airports such as Montpellier. It’s even possible to book an indirect Béziers flight to the town’s own airport, via Paris, making this an easy destination for a city short break.

Béziers’ colourful and fascinating history is evident everywhere, and one of the biggest draws for tourists. But Béziers is also looking to the future: by developing its university, diversifying its economy and developing its transport infrastructure (A75 motorway, TGV to Spain, extension of the airport…).