Probably the best known canal of Europe, and one of the earliest, the 240 km long Canal du Midi in Southern France (which in France is called le Midi, maybe a reference to midday sun) was built by Pierre-Paul Riquet and opened officially as the Canal Royal de Languedoc on 15 May 1681.
With 91 locks which serve to ascend and descend a total of 190 metres (620 ft) above sea level, it connects the Garonne River to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.
In all the canal has 328 structures, including bridges, 40 aqueducts, dams and a tunnel. It runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Mediterranean port of Sète—which was founded to serve as the eastern terminus. The Canal was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Commercial traffic ceased in the 1980s and today it is the domain of pleasure craft including many cruise boats.
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