History

Following is the story of the Canal du Midi and the Canal lateral to the Garonne river. designed and created, begining 1662, by Pierre Paul Riquet, tax collector under King Louis XIV.

Together they are called "Le Canal des Deux Mers."

The ingenuosity of the water supply system, the many amazing bridges, dams and other constructions built in such a short time without the technology of today has us wondering about this amazing work, the Canal du Midi.

The revolutionary rename The Royal Canal in Languedoc in 1789 into the more democratic and popular name of Canal du Midi.

The decline of the Canaux du Midi started when the state handed it to the railroad compagny called then, the Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Midi. En 1898, the state took back the Canaux du Midi rights and decided to make one and only canal.
From then on they will be called Canal d'Entre Deux Mers that will become in the years 1990, The Canal des Deux Mers.

All along the 300 years of its history, between Mediterranean sea and Atlantic Ocean, the Canal has been a conductor for communication, transport and economic prospect.

1925 was a disrupted time for the boatmen population with the advent of power engines.
Boatmen aboard sapines or coutrillons, crisscrossed all of the South West waterways basin sailing up to Paris and Northern Europe navigating on the Rhône River.