page_title: Canal du Midi
section_title: The Canal du Midi as a model
hierarchical_section_title: Canal du Midi / The Canal du Midi as a model
context_page_description: The Canal du Midi is a 240 km long canal in Southern France. Originally named the Canal royal en Languedoc and renamed by French revolutionaries to Canal du Midi in 1789, the canal was at the time considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century.
  The canal connects the Garonne to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean and along with the 193 km long Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers, joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau near the Mediterranean.
  Strictly speaking, "Canal du Midi" refers to the portion initially constructed from Toulouse to the Mediterranean – the Deux-Mers canal project aimed to link together several sections of navigable waterways to join the Mediterranean and the Atlantic: first the Canal du Midi, then the Garonne which was more or less navigable between Toulouse and Bordeaux, then the Garonne Lateral Canal built later, and finally the Gironde estuary after Bordeaux.
context_section_description: The Canal du Midi was one of the great achievements of the late 17th century.  Riquet understood the hydraulic system of the Montagne Noire and had controlled it to serve the Canal du Midi. King Louis XIV, who was the sponsor, also left it as a mark of his commitment to grandeur.
  The canal was also magnified by the Encyclopedia or Reasoned Dictionary of Science, Arts, and Crafts by Diderot and D'Alembert in 1765 who highlighted its value and greatness. They compare it to Roman constructions. Another encyclopedia writer, Joseph Jerome Lefrancois Lalande lauded the architectural and hydraulic achievement in his work The navigation canals and especially the Canal de Languedoc in 1778. Similarly, Bernard Forest de Bélidor congratulated the designer in Hydraulic Architecture. The canal became an example in Europe as throughout the Age of Enlightenment it was the only canal of this size in Europe.
  Finally the American Thomas Jefferson, politician, architect, and future president of the United States, came to study the Canal du Midi in 1787. As the United States Ambassador to France he envisaged the construction of a similar work to link the Potomac River to Lake Erie.
caption: The Canal du Midi, near Toulouse
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A70", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 6.5", "Image DateTime": "2004:03:15 18:19:48", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.3.2", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "250", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1102", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8686", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:03:12 14:30:38", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:03:12 14:30:38", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "309/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "173/32", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "100000/13", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "100000/13", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}