Harbour

Le Somail

Name: Le Somail
Address: Sallèles-d'Aude, FR
Telephone: +33984588138

Sallèles-d'Aude, France

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Type: Harbour

Historic halt on the Canal du Midi at Le Somail, commune of Sallèles-d'Aude, Occitanie, about 15 km west of Narbonne.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

On the Canal du Midi between Homps and Port-la-Robine. Maximum draught on the canal is 1.4 m and air draught 3.0 m under the hump-backed stone bridges. Pass the single-arched 17th century stone bridge of Le Somail with care, the opening is narrow for wide barges.

Practical

Free mooring along the canal bank with rings on the stonework. Water and electricity available at the nearby hire base. Bakery, grocery, restaurants and a well-known second-hand bookshop within 100 m. Port de Paraza 3.3 NM west offers a full hire base and additional services.

Ashore

17th century stone bridge and the former ice-house, an underground pit used to store winter ice, both listed as monuments and visible on the quay. Le Trouve Tout du Livre, a second-hand bookshop with more than 50 000 volumes in an old wine warehouse, is on the canal bank. Abbaye de Fontfroide, a 12th century Cistercian abbey, is 16 km south by road.

History

Le Somail was built as a staging post on the Canal du Midi after the canal opened in 1681 under the engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet. Travellers changed horses and spent the night here on the Toulouse to Sète route. The hump-backed bridge, the chapel and the ice-house remain from this original ensemble.

Story

The Canal du Midi was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 for its engineering, and Le Somail is one of the best-kept sections of the original 17th century infrastructure.