Bédarieux

General Information

Population: 6500
Altitude : 184m
Shops and amenities: The city has many major services including clinic, swimming pool, library and cinema.
Postcode : 34600

Activities and Economy

With over 400 shops and services and a unique industry, Bédarieux is a radiant and attractive city. It is part of Agenda 21, which places sustainable development and quality of life at the heart of its projects.

Sites of Interest

Several streets in Bédarieux retain their 17th-century architecture.
The former castle, La Bastide dates from the fourteenth century. 
The Promenade de la Perspective (1742), a dyke built to protect the town from Orb floods, is lined with 200-year-old plane trees.
16th-century bridge over the Orb
19th-century railway viaduct with 37 arches
Church of Saint-Alexandre built in the 17th–19th century  
Maison des arts Museum in the former hospice 

History

Bédarieux is located in the Orb valley , a coastal river flowing north-south upstream from Bédarieux then east-west downstream. It is overlooked by the Monts d’Orb and the peak of Tantajo. Since 2012, Bédarieux has been part of the Haut-Languedoc 2 regional natural park . The Orb crosses the town of Bédarieux, the two banks are connected by the “old bridge” to the south and the prefecture bridge to the north.

The Saint-Nazaire de Lodéran chapel (now disappeared) was mentioned in 1153. Bédarieux was at one time a notable manufacturing centre. Its cloth-weaving industry, carried on under a special royal privilege from the end of the 17th century to the French Revolution, employed in 1789 as many as 5,000 workmen, while some thousand more were occupied in wool and cotton spinning, etc. In spite of the introduction of modern machinery from England, the industries of the place declined, mainly owing to the loss of the trade with the Levant; but in the late 19th century they somewhat revived, owing partly to the opening up of coal mines in the neighbourhood.