Béziers

Beziers () is a commune in the Herault departement in the Occitanie region in southern France. It is a subprefecture of the department and also the capital of the arrondissement of the same name.
Beziers is one of the oldest cities in France. Research shows that Beziers was built by Greeks in the 6th century BC. Some archaeologists think that Beziers could be the oldest town of France, even before Marseille.
History
The site where is Beziers has been occupied since Neolithic times, before the arrival of Celts. Roman Betarra was on the road that linked Provence with Iberia. The Romans refounded the city as a new place for veterans in 36-35 BC and called it Colonia Julia Baeterrae Septimanorum. Stones from the Roman amphitheatre were used to construct the city wall during the 3rd century. The city was occupied by the Moors between 720 and 752.
Beziers was a Languedoc stronghold of Catharism, which the Catholic Church condemned as heretical and which Catholic forces exterminated in the Albigensian Crusade.
Beziers was the first place to be attacked. The crusaders got to the town on 21 July 1209 and burned the cathedral of Saint Nazaire. A few parts of the Romanesque cathedral survived, and repairs started in 1215. The restoration, along with that of the rest of the city, continued until the 15th century.
After the Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat in 1851, troops killed protesters in Beziers. Others were condemned to death or taken to the Guiana.
Geography
The city is in the southeastern of the department, in the plain of Herault (the plaine heraultoise). It is on a small cliff on the eastern side of the Orb river, a tributary of the Herault river.
The commune has an area of , the largest commune in the department, and is at an altitude of about above sea level. Beziers is at to the southeast of the city of Montpellier and at from the Mediterranean Sea.
The commune of Beziers is surrounded by the communes Boujan-sur-Libron, Maraussan, Lignan-sur-Orb, Villeneuve-les-Beziers, Corneilhan, Sauvian, Colombiers, Cers, Montady, Maureilhan, Bassan and Vendres.
Climate
The climate of Beziers, in the Koppen climate classification, is Csa - Mediterranean climate with hot summers.
Population
The inhabitants of Beziers are known, in French, as Biterrois (women: Biterroises), from Baeterrae, the Latin name of the city.
With a population of 75,701, Beziers has a population density of inhabitants/km2.
Evolution of the population in Beziers
Beziers forms with other four communes the urban area of Beziers with a population of 89,243 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Beziers, formed by 40 communes with a population of 168,960 inhabitants (2013) and an area of .
Administration
Beziers is a subprefecture of the Herault department, the capital of the arrondissement of Beziers and the administrative centre () of three cantons: Beziers-1, Beziers-2 and Beziers-3.
It is part of the intercommunality Beziers Mediterranee ().
Sister cities
Beziers is twinned with:
Chiclana de la Frontera, Cadiz, Andalusia, Spain, since 1993
Heilbronn, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, since 1965
Stavropol, Stavropol Krai, Russia, since 1982
Stockport, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, since 1972
Sites of interest
Saint-Nazaire Cathedral (Cathedrale Saint-Nazaire), from the 14th century.
Pont Vieux, a stone bridge over the Orb, from the Middle Ages.
Canal du Midi, a canal (17th century).