LE TUNNEL DU MALPAS

The Malpas tunnel is the first tunnel of the Canal du Midi and a symbol of the obstinacy of Pierre-Paul Riquet, its instigator. Bored in 1679 in the sandy sandstone of the Ensérune hill, it is 170 metres long. This exceptional work of art brings together three passages: the Canal du Midi (the highest), the Bordeaux-Sète railway line (2 metres below) and the underground aqueduct evacuating the water from the dried-up pond of Montady. These developments explain the nickname of "pierced mountain" given to the hill. Many birds live inside the tunnel.