Béziers

Town in the Hérault département in southern France, situated at the crossing of the River Orb and the Canal du Midi, 60 km/37 mi southwest of Montpellier; population (1999) 69,400. It is a centre of the wine and spirit trade. Other industries include the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and confectionery. Features include pre-Roman and Roman remains, the Gothic church of St-Nazaire, formerly a cathedral, and ancient city walls.

History Known to the Romans as Baeterrae Septimanorum, Béziers was the site of a massacre in 1209 by Simon de Montfort (c. 1160-1218), when his troops killed 30,000 inhabitants who had sheltered the Albigenses, members of a religious sect condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, and burned the cathedral. During the 16th and 17th centuries the town was a Huguenot centre.