Puisserguier is located in the Hérault Department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. It is a 30 minute drive from the Mediterranean and a 15 minute drive from the nearest large town, Béziers. Population is a little less than 3,000.
This small village is renowned for its wine and olive oil and its history goes back to mediaeval times. The design of the village is circulade, which is a type of architecture dating back to the Romanesque period whereby the town's streets are built in concentric circles around the base of a chateau. (I guess that means that we can't really get lost; instead we'll just be spinning around in circles!)
Puisserguier's chateau is built on an old Roman fort and played an important role during the 12th century. In addition to the chateau there is St Christopher's Priory (17th century) and the Church of St Paul (14th century) which houses an organ that celebrated its centenary in 2000 (which, I guess, is not considered so antiquated in these parts!).
Puisserguier sits on one of the many routes on the Camino de Santiago de Compostola (St Jacques de Campostelle) - we were not aware of this so it was a pleasant surprise as we have often discussed this pilgrimage.
The other exciting aspect to this town is that it sits on the 240km long UNESCO heritage listed canal du midi (or canal de los doas mars - canal of the two seas because it joins the Mediterranean with the Atlantic ocean). It is considered to be one of the greatest engineering works of the 17th century. Before we leave Puisserguier Mum and I plan to take a little dinner cruise on one of the many boats that travel up and down the canal.
No comments:
Post a Comment