Agde is the commune in the Hérault department in southern France that is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. Its inhabitants are called Agathois.

Location

Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris. The Canal du Midi connects to the Hérault at the lock ("L'Écluse Ronde d'Agde") just above Agde and empties into the Mediterranean at Le Grau d'Agde.

History

Agde (Agathe Tyche, "good fortune") was a 5th century BCE Greek colony settled by Phocaeans from Massilia. The symbol of the city, the bronze Ephebe of Agde, of the 4th century BCE, recovered from the fluvial sands of the Hérault, was joined in December 2001 by two Early Imperial Roman bronzes, of a child and of Eros, which had doubtless been on their way to a villa in Gallia Narbonensis when they were lost in a shipwreck.

In 506 the Council of Agde was held at Agde.

Architecture

Agde is known for the distinctive black basalt used in the local architecture, for example the cathedral of Saint Stephen, built in the 12th century to replace a ninth century Carolingian edifice built on the foundations of a 5th century Roman church. Bishop Guillaume fortified the cathedral's precincts and provided it with a 35-meter donjon. The Romanesque cloister of the cathedral was demolished in 1857.

See also

• Cap d'Agde, the seaside resort of Agde
• Ancient Diocese of Agde
• List of traditional Greek place names

External links

• Agde Town website
• Agde Tourist Office
• Agde (official site)
• Agde has one of the biggest naturist centres of Europe
• Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Agatha (Agde) Hérault, France"
• Recent undersea find of bronzes