Travel Guide Bize-Minervois

Its houses, huddled together in tight rows, form a defensive wall, giving this small village with its circular streets, at the foot of the Pech and on the banks of the river Cesse, its typical character. Bize takes its name from a Roman centurion, Bizani. As you pass through the Porte Saint-Michel, we invite you to admire the village coat of arms carved directly into the stone, a lovely way into the heart of the village, which leads to a pretty Place aux Herbes which has not changed since the Middle Ages. You can visit the church of Saint-Michel (18th century) whose marble is original. The Cesse river rises in Ferrals-les-Montagnes, its banks penetrate Bize via the Goulidou, offering places to swim (supervised in summer) in clear, cool and shallow water. Its fabulous landscapes reveal a great variety of Mediterranean flora, offering walks and hikes on marked trails. The vine still occupies the major part of the cultivated land, as shown by the wine estates. It rubs shoulders with pine forests, garrigues and olive trees, as shown by the only olive-growing cooperative in the department, L'Oulibo, where you can taste the queen of olives: the lucque, the flagship of local production. Don't hesitate to go for a walk in the pine forests to see the beauty of the landscape or to go for a hike from Bize-Minervois. Be vigilant and respect nature.