Attractions and Places To See around Castries - Top 20

Beautiful view!

Adorable little lake where it's good to have a picnic and swim before getting back on the road!

Everyone knows the Pont du Gard, but the Castries aqueduct, much less well-known, is definitely worth the detour (to say the least). A very beautiful hike (possibly parking nearby) done in bright sunshine in the early afternoon, which allowed us to be in a solitary and dry landscape, but where the impressive arches of the aqueduct unfold majestically. An appreciable tranquility in the middle of the past. Superb photos are possible, and the loop allows you to see the covered conduit bringing the water. Sometimes at ground level and sometimes on the arches (there it is no longer covered), it is obviously no longer supplied. The interest is to stroll afterwards (or before) in the village in order to see the "urban" part of the aqueduct.

This Gothic cathedral is a must-see on any tour of historic Montpellier. The imposing gateway on the west façade, with its enormous round columns, gives the church the appearance of a fortress. On the other sides, it blends so closely into the city that it's difficult to grasp its full dimensions.

The Castries Aqueduct winds through the bush landscape and offers beautiful walks in the hinterland.

Some parts are steep and slippery. The loop itself is no longer feasible as it is, on 3 occasions we had to turn back or choose another route because the route was no longer accessible (vegetation too dense, privatization of the passage)

In the Middle Ages, at the beginning of the second half of the 14th century, the nuns of the Order of Saint Catherine built a convent1. After the religious wars that heralded the Reformation and during the episcopate of Bishop Pierre Fenouillet, a desire for religious reconquest by Catholics was realized in the city of Montpellier2. In 1641, Pierre Fenouillet obtained from his counterpart Fulcrand de Barrès the order to bring six nuns from the Order of Sainte-Ursule de Pézenas. They devoted themselves to the education of poor girls and were settled in part of the convent rebuilt in 1657, which took the name of the Ursuline Convent3. The building was then built by the architect Jean Bonnassier4. From 1697 to 1738, during the episcopate of the Jansenist bishop Joachim de Colbert, the Ursulines were supported to secure their vocation as teachers, open new classes and welcome many residents3. By 1748, however, his successor, Bishop Berger de Charancy, hostile to Jansenism, had the residents withdrawn by entrusting them to the neighboring Visitandine monastery as well as to the Vignogoul monastery3,5. Although the monastery was initially used for religious purposes, it was gradually reused for various warlike reasons. It then functioned as a prison (during the Revolution), then as a barracks for a few years, then again as a prison and then as a women's prison from 18256 to 1934, then as a military prison (in particular during the occupation, the Gestapo occupied the Ursuline convent as a center for interrogation and detention of the resistance fighters) and again as a barracks (Grossetti barracks: Air Force information office) in the post-war period until 1986. The purchase of the Ursuline convent by the municipality takes place in several stages, following the various administrative procedures: as early as 1980, the City of Montpellier announces that it will acquire the site, the Army does not move until 1986 and, following an agreement, the City immediately occupies the premises7, even if the final acquisition deed is not completed until two years later.

The Gothic cathedral was built at the end of the 14th century according to the wishes of Pope Urban V and is the largest in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The bell is also the largest in the region, weighing around 4 tons and measuring 1.70 meters in diameter, and was inaugurated in 1778. In front of the cathedral's portal is an unusual-looking, canopy-like structure, which ends with two small round towers.