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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Fonserane locks, commonly known as the nine locks, form a lock staircase located at Béziers, in the Hérault, on the Canal du Midi. Built between 1673 and 1680 under the direction of engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet, they allow to cross a elevation of 21.50 meters by 312 meters thanks to eight ovoid basins and nine doors. This book, originally designed to link the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, illustrates a major 17th century technical feat in civil engineering.

Since 1858, the construction of the Orb Canal Bridge has rendered the last two locks obsolete, reducing their active number to six (seven doors). The site preserves historic buildings such as the water billet, stables and lockhouse, demonstrating its central role in river transport. Ranked a historic monument in 1996 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that year, it attracts 320,000 visitors annually, making it the 3rd most visited site of the former Languedoc-Roussillon region, after the Pont du Gard and Carcassonne.

Between 2016 and 2017, the site underwent a major renovation of 13.2 million euros, financed by the State, the EU, the Occitanie region, the Hérault department and the community of Béziers Méditerranée. The works have modernized the accesses (parking, gardens) and restored heritage elements, such as the house of the d ́eau coche, transformed into a tourist office, setroom and shop. A water slope, built in 1988 to speed up vessel passage, was abandoned due to excessive operating costs.

The protected architectural complex includes basin trimmings, docks, stairways, dammarre terminals, as well as a culvert and a vaulted bridge. The locks remain a passageway for 30,000 annual boats (dwellers, houseboats), while offering visitors a panoramic view of the Béziers Cathedral and the canal. Their innovative design and landscape integration make it a symbol of the French industrial and tourist heritage.

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