The best MTB trails around Étang De Jouarres

L'Epanchoir de l'Argent Double, classified as a historic monument: started in 1677 and completed in 1694 according to Vauban's plans, it allows the canal to evacuate its excess water.

L'Epanchoir de l'Argent Double, classified as a historic monument: started in 1677 and completed in 1694 according to Vauban's plans, it allows the canal to discharge its excess water.

An ancient site of Roman baths, Homps later housed a commandery of the Knights of the Order of Malta. Then, thanks to the construction of the Canal du Midi, the commune experienced considerable growth in the wine trade and transport. Today, barges make a pleasant stopover in its charming marina.

Ancient site of Roman thermal baths, Homps later housed a commandery of the Knights of Malta. Then, thanks to the construction of the Canal du Midi, the commune experienced considerable growth in the wine trade and transport. Today, barges make a pleasant stop in its charming pleasure port.

The Canal du Midi, formerly the Royal Canal, is a 17th-century technical feat designed by Pierre-Paul Riquet to connect the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Today, it is above all a place for relaxation and discovery, where heritage, nature, and conviviality blend together.

The bridge is in Homps

Naudy Tunnel This is the centerpiece of the pond's irrigation canals. On October 20, 1849, the construction of a water intake was authorized for irrigation and sealing the pond's soil. Work began the same year. The tunnel was inaugurated on November 19, 1851. The canal measures 2,135 meters. The passage under the Canal du Midi has not required any repairs to this day. Less than a year after the tunnel was dug, on April 28, 1852, the estate was sold to a private company. The new owners attempted large-scale rice cultivation and achieved good results, but this crop was abandoned in 1860 because malaria fever led to petitions, protests from the mayors of the surrounding villages, and successive lawsuits. More information on the website: http://aiguesvives11.org/etang_marseillette/carac_etang.htm (Puichéric Town Hall)

Second Period In 1759, Roudil de Berriac, Lord of Ranchin and Mayor of Carcassonne, committed to draining the Marseillette Pond within eight years. In 1760, he obtained exclusive rights to drain the pond through a decree of King Louis XV's Council. The pond was acquired in 1778 by an engineer and member of the Toulouse Academy of Sciences, Monsieur de Garipuy, who had traveled to Holland to study the drainage project. Upon his death, the pond was purchased by Madame Riquet de Caraman on behalf of the owners of the Canal du Languedoc. In 1789, the pond became state property. Map of the Marseillette Pond Third Period In 1804, the pond was resold on the condition that the drainage be completed within four years. It was then acquired by Mrs. Lawless, an Irish woman. She had the Aiguille channel re-dug and widened and the Plains aqueduct rebuilt over three arches. Three other channels were opened inside the pond, together forming a length of 8,977 meters. These drainage channels are the ones that still exist today. Mrs. Lawless had 18 farmsteads built on the 2,000 hectares. In 1834, wheat, oats, and barley were harvested in the pond, but the owner was ruined. In 1844, the estate was expropriated in favor of the French Mortgage Fund. Saline efflorescence was killing the vegetation. Water was lacking; the land would have to be submerged to desalinate it. The idea was to divert some of the water from the Aude River, which flows two kilometers away, into the pond. But the Aude and the pond are separated by a plateau 30 to 45 meters high and this obstacle seems insurmountable.