Attractions and Places To See around Roubia - Top 20

easy but hot this season

a good way to stock up

beautiful place

technical feat - if necessary, the Canal du Midi overflows into the river (l'argent double) that flows underneath it

The German-language television series "Treasures of the World - Heritage of Humanity" uses short film clips to honor special sites from all eras and continents that have one thing in common: they have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. One of the episodes introduces the CANAL DU MIDI: "...the Romans already dreamed of a waterway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Powerful people and doers from Charlemagne to Francis the First failed to realize this idea, even Leonardo da Vinci tinkered with it in vain. It was not built until the end of the 17th century. The Canal du Midi is a technical masterpiece by one person, one obsessed with the idea, by Pierre Paul Riquet. ..." Can be seen at => https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/schaetze-der-welt/gcanal-du-midi-frankreich-folge-224/swr/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS82OTg2NDg2

This structure, born from the recommendations made by Vauban to improve the Canal du Midi, was built in 1693. It is one of the most original structures on the Canal du Midi with its eleven-arched bridge. The function of this structure is to evacuate excess water from the canal to the Argent-Double River. This evacuation is done in two ways. The first is by evacuating surface water by means of a spillway (overflow system) at the point where the bank is lowest at the level of the arches of the structure. The water that spills then falls in a cascade to the Argent-Double River below. After the surface water has been evacuated, the second means of evacuation of the structure is the spillway itself, that is to say, a bottom valve, which allows, with the action of man, to evacuate the water through the bottom. During maintenance work carried out in winter, this reach (portion between two locks) is emptied by this means. A passage on the arches is built in order to maintain a "dry" continuity for the towing horses and avoid the slippery and perilous passage that this spillway presented. (Text from: La Redorte and works of the Argent-Double)

Pretty village along the Canal du Midi. Don't miss the old post box...

Very pretty canal, less known than the Canal du Midi, shaded. Do not miss the Gailhousty site, at the downstream outlet of the Canal de Jonction on the Aude river. This canal, put into operation in 1787, allows to make the connection between the Canal du Midi and the Canal de la Robine de Narbonne. The Gailhousty site consists of a lock, a spillway, a bridge and a dry dock. Upstream of the lock, the canal is protected from the floods of the Aude thanks to a system of dikes which surround it up to Sallèles-d'Aude. Downstream of the lock is a space designed to be able to be submerged during heavy floods: the spillway. The bridge is designed to provide rapid access to all points of the site, is of neat architecture, with a low arched vault and four quarter-circle staircases placed at each corner. During floods, it is necessary to be able to react quickly and maneuver the defense systems in time. Placed on the downstream head of the lock, it participates in the system of containing the strongest floods. The monumental spillway, 30 meters long, is located on the left bank of the canal between the Gailhousty lock and the Aude. Its front facade on the canal side is pierced with vertical crenellations that plunge into the water. At the rear, it has 5 arched openings at the foot of which launches an 8km long landing channel called "La Saignée" directed towards the Capestang pond. This building houses no less than 15 oversized valves. It is not intended to evacuate excess water from the Jonction canal but must allow the passage of flood water from the Aude river. Originally, it was planned that this water loaded with fertile silt would be directed into the Capestang pond to fill it and promote crops there.