SEUIL DE NAUROUZE - LIGNE DE PARTAGE DES EAUX
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The Naurouze weir, 12 km west of Castelnaudary on the D611, is an "isthmus".
The Naurouze Threshold, 12 km west of Castelnaudary on the D611, sometimes also called the Lauragais Threshold, is an isthmus, a separation between the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Mediterranean Sea... A strategic point where the waters hesitate to flow towards one side or the other. The story goes that one fine day, Paul Riquet observed the waters of the Grave fountain, between the oceanic and Mediterranean slopes, split into two streams, one flowing towards the Garonne, the other towards the Aude. Thus emerged the idea of establishing this water divide as the culmination of the construction of his Canal du Midi, and it was then simply a matter of bringing the water stored at Saint-Ferreol to feed both sides of the canal. The difficulty, however, lay in tracing this line of water back to its original source, in order to determine the best possible catchment site. At Naurouze, the ambitious project consisted of an 8-hectare octagonal basin that had been dug and completed in May 1673. Paul Riquet had even thought of building a prestigious town around it, which would have served as a port. The basin, which was abandoned because it was no longer needed as the water was fed from Saint-Ferréol, is no longer there, and in the 19th century, Paul Riquet's heirs erected an obelisk in his honor on this site of ancient trees and plane-tree lanes. A romantic walk like a pilgrimage!
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