Canal du Midi at Béziers — Écluses de Fonserannes

The Écluses de Fonserannes — the Fonserannes Staircase Locks — stand just west of Béziers as one of the great engineering showpieces of the Canal du Midi and of 17th-century France. Completed in 1680 under the direction of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the staircase originally comprised eight consecutive oval-shaped lock chambers (later modified to nine, then back to seven after a 19th-century straight cut was added alongside) that lift or lower canal boats 21.5 metres over a distance of just 312 metres — one of the most ingenious solutions to a dramatic change in elevation along an entire canal system. The original design was a radical departure from standard canal lock practice: rather than a single deep lock, Riquet created a smooth cascade of interlocking oval chambers, each sharing its upper gate with the lower gate of the chamber above, allowing a visual flow of still water and moving boats that remains as beautiful in operation as it is functional. Visitors watch from the wide walkways alongside the locks as boats ascend or descend — a process that takes approximately 45 minutes per vessel and requires the manual operation of sluice paddles in each gate. The surrounding park has shaded benches, a canal museum in the former lock-keeper's house, and towpath cycling access north toward Capestang and south toward the centre of Béziers. A separate 19th-century water slope (pente d'eau) runs alongside — a hydraulic channel experiment that is now closed but visible. The site is freely accessible at all times; the best spectacle occurs when boats are actively navigating in the boating season from April through October.