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BEZIERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 841 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BEZIERS , a See also:

town of See also:southern See also:France, See also:capital of an See also:arrondissement in the See also:department of See also:Herault, 47 M. S.W. of See also:Montpellier by See also:rail. Pop. (5906) 46,262. Beziers is situated in a See also:wine-growing See also:district on a See also:hill on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:river See also:Orb, which is joined at this point by the See also:Canal du Midi. The Allees See also:Paul Riquet, named after the creator of the canal, occupy the centre of Beziers and See also:divide the old town with its See also:maze of narrow and irregular streets from the new See also:quarter to the See also:east. They See also:form a See also:long and shady See also:promenade, terminating al one end in the See also:Place de la Republique and the See also:theatre, the front of which is decorated with bas-reliefs by See also:David d'See also:Angers, and at the other in a beautiful See also:park, the See also:Plateau See also:des Poetes. The most interesting portion of the town is the extreme See also:west where the old ramparts overlook the Orb. Above them towers St Nazaire, the finest of the churches of Beziers; it See also:dates from the 12th to the 14th centuries and is a See also:good specimen of the ecclesiastical fortification See also:common in southern France. Its See also:chief See also:artistic features are the See also:rose window in the western See also:facade, and the stained See also:glass and curious See also:iron grilles of the See also:choir-windows, which belong to the 14th See also:century. Adjoining the See also:south See also:transept there are See also:Gothic cloisters of the 14th century. The Orb is crossed by four See also:bridges, the railway See also:bridge, an See also:ancient bridge of the 13th or 14th century, a See also:modern bridge and the See also:fine See also:aqueduct by which the Canal du Midi is carried over the river.

About See also:

half a mile to the south-west of the town are the locks of Fonserannes, in which in 330 yds. the See also:water of the canal descends 8o ft. to reach the level of the Orb. There are remains of a See also:Roman See also:arena which have been built into the houses of the See also:rue St Jacques. Beziers is seat of a sub-See also:prefect and has tribunals of first instance and of See also:commerce, communal colleges and several learned See also:societies. It is an agricultural See also:market and carries on an active See also:trade in wine, See also:brandy, See also:fruit, See also:leather and See also:sulphur. Its See also:industries are chiefly connected with the wine trade (cask and See also:cork making, &c.) and there are important distilleries. It also has iron-See also:works and tanneries. The See also:Romans established a See also:colony at Beziers, and it was the headquarters of the seventh See also:legion, under the See also:title of Baelerrae Septimanorum. The See also:present name occurs in the form Besara as See also:early as See also:Festus See also:Avienus (later 4th century). The town was completely destroyed in 1209 by the forces of See also:Simon de See also:Montfort in the crusade against the Albigenses, on which occasion 20,000 persons were massacred. The walls were rebuilt in 1289; but the town again suffered severely in.the See also:civil and religious See also:wars of the 16th century, and all its fortifications were destroyed in 1632.

End of Article: BEZIERS

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