Le canal du midi, it is a 240 km waterway, punctuated by 328 structures! Among these exceptional sites, we find the 4 Saint-Roch locks in Castelnaudary.
Aqueducts, locks and many others are among the technological prowess of their time protected as Historic Monuments like the Fonserannes Locks, in the Béziers region, the longest multiple lock in France. Castelnaudary can be proud of having the only lock with 4 chambers in the entire length, allowing a difference in altitude of 10 meters to be overcome: the Saint-Roch lock.
A lock with an exceptional appearance
The quadruple lock of Saint-Roch is dated 1678 and allows you to cross a elevation up close from 10 meters. Indeed, crossing a significant difference in altitude on the Canal du Midi requires the creation of a lock with several airlocks attached to each other: we then speak oflock ladder.
Two mills and flour mill were built on a diversion on the right bank of the canal. The left bank welcomed the old administration buildings and hospitality.
The lock takes its name from the Saint-Roch chapel, built in the 1680th century by the brotherhood of Saint-Roch responsible for treating lepers in this location, outside the city walls. Two mills were built in XNUMX on the right bank of the lock in order to take advantage of the waterfall, as is frequently seen on the Canal du Midi, along the wheat lands of Lauragais. Near the Saint-Roch lock, you can still see the presence of one of the five windmills which have lined the left bank since the Renaissance.
Contact information
Where can I park to access the 4 Saint-Roch locks?
The little story of the rope maker or “stringer” of Saint-Roch
The use of ropes is essential for the boat traction and l'cargo mooring. The main material used then remains the hemp.
Castelnaudary has developed a manufacturing specialty of ropes linked to the boat building activity. A contract is signed with a rope maker for a period of three years. In 1830, the canal administration authorized, against a fee, the installation of a rope maker in premises adjoining the Saint-Roch lock keeper's house. The rope workshop is 190 meters long and 60 centimeters wide, for storing its tools and for weaving its ropes. The rope maker spends his days on the banks of the canal, walking backwards while weaving his ropes.
The Castelnaudary rope makers disappeared at the beginning of the XNUMXth century with the arrival of industrially manufactured ropes.
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