DESTINATION LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON

The Languedoc-Roussillon region is dominated by 740,300 acres of vineyards, three times the combined area of the vineyards in Bordeaux. The Mediterranean climate and plentiful land with soil ranging from rocky sand to thick clay was very suitable for the production of wine, and it is estimated that one in ten bottles of the world's wine was produced in this region during the 20th century.

DISCOVER LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON: Ales, Beziers, Carcassone, Cathar Castles, Chateaux de Lastours, Frontignan, Montpellier, Narbonne, Nimes, Perpignan, Sete, Wine of Languedoc,

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DISCOVER ALES Alès lies 40 km N.N.W. of Nîmes, on the left bank of the Gardon River, which half surrounds it. It is located at the foot of the Cévennes, near the Cévennes National Park.In the 16th century Alès was an important Huguenot centre. In 1629 the town was taken by Louis XIII, and by the Peace of Alais the Huguenots gave up their right to places de sûreté (garrison towns) ...

DISCOVER BEZIERS During the 10-12th centuries Béziers was the centre of a Viscountship of Béziers. The viscounts ruled most of the coastal plain around the city. They also controlled the major east-west route through Languedoc, roughly following the old Roman Via Domitia, with the two key bridges over the Orb at Béziers and over the Hérault at Saint-Thibéry ...

DISCOVER CARCASSONE The fortified city of Carcassone is essentially of concentric design with two outer walls with towers and barbicans to prevent attack by siege engines. The castle itself possesses its own draw bridge and ditch leading to a central keep. The walls consist of towers built over quite a period. One section is Roman and is notably different from the medieval walls ...

CATHAR CASTLES Cathar castles is a modern term used by the tourism industry to designate a series of fortresses built by the French king on the southern border of his lands at the end of the Albigensian Crusade. Some of these sites, before the royal period, were fortified villages capable of sheltering Cathars and which were destroyed during the building of citadels ...

CHATEAUX DE LASTOURS The Châteaux de Lastours are four so-called Cathar castles in the French commune of Lastours in the département of l'Aude. The four castles are on a rocky spur above the village of Lastours, isolated by the deep valleys of the Orbeil and Grésilhou rivers. They were built at an altitude of 300 m along a rock wall just 1300 feet long by 165 feet wide ...

DISCOVER FRONTIGNAN Frontignan la Peyrade is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety. Until the early 20th century the local economy was based on the production of marine salt and wine ...

DISCOVER MONTPELLIER Montpellier is a city in southern France. It is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, as well as the Hérault department. Montpellier is the 8th largest city of the country, and is also the fastest growing city in France over the past 25 years. The Festival de Radio France et Montpellier is a summer festival of opera and music held in Montpellier ...

DISCOVER NARBONNE Narbonne was established in Gaul in 118 BC, as Colonia Narbo Martius. It was located on the Via Domitia, the first Roman road in Gaul, built at the time of the foundation of the colony, and connecting Italy to Spain. Geographically, Narbonne was therefore located at a very important crossroads because it was situated where the Via Domitia connected to the Via Aquitania ...

DISCOVER NIMES Several important remains of the Roman Empire can still be seen in and around Nîmes. The elliptical Roman amphitheatre, of the 1st or 2nd century AD, is the best-preserved Roman arena in France. It was filled with medieval housing, when its walls served as ramparts, but they were cleared under Napoleon. It is still used today as a bull fighting and concert arena ...

DISCOVER PERPIGNAN Though settlement in the area goes back to Roman times, the medieval town of Perpignan seems to have been founded around the beginning of the 10th century (first mentioned in a document as villa Perpiniarum in 927). Soon Perpignan became the capital of the counts of Roussillon. In 1172 Count Girard II bequeathed his lands to the Counts of Barcelona...

DISCOVER SETE Known as the Venice of Languedoc and the singular island (in Paul Valéry's words), Sete is a port and a sea-side resort on the Mediterranean Sea with its own very strong cultural identity, traditions, cuisine and dialect. It is also the hometown of artists like Paul Valéry, Jean Vilar, Georges Brassens, Manitas de Plata, and Robert Comba...

LANGUEDOC WINE Languedoc - Roussillon wine, including the vin de pays labeled Vin de Pays d'Oc, is produced in southern France. 'Languedoc wine', since the 20th century generally refers to the northern part of the Languedoc-Roussillon région of France, an area which spans the Mediterranean coastline from the French border with Spain to the region of Provence...

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