The best MTB trails around Saint-Thibéry

Difficult to pass by without noticing this monumental fountain dedicated to the “Belle Agathoise”, a symbolic incarnation of the city of Agde. Erected in 1858, it features Agathé, the city's protective figure, surrounded by marble lions that enhance its almost mythological character. More than just urban decoration, it is a tribute to the ancient history of Agde, founded in the Greek era under the name of Agathé.

A remarkable geological site, worthy of the fairy legend! It is actually a sandstone (clastic rock) with a carbonate cement and not a limestone. Differential erosion has shaped this landscape into natural basins.

It is nicknamed the "Bridge of Three Eyes". Three openings designed within the logic of the Canal du Midi: navigation, water drainage, and continuity of local circulation. A work from Pierre-Paul Riquet's project, to be discovered in the landscape between Vias and Agde.

A few hundred meters from the village of Castelnau-de-Guers, in the middle of a pine wood, the Saint-Nicolas-de-Talpusiac chapel was built on a hill at the foot of which passes the fishermen's path (cami peissonier) connecting the Étang de Thau to Pézenas. The chapel is mentioned in 1106 under the name "Ecclesiam S. Nicholay de Talpussiac". The name Talpussiac, translated as "Talpussiac's domain", suggests an ancient origin for the site. Archaeological surveys near the chapel led to the discovery in 1992 of the site of a rural settlement from late Antiquity. The current chapel, oblong in plan, and its south and west facades are pierced by a door. It was consecrated in 1819, but is now disused.

The Ardaillou stream, 11 km long, rises in Béziers and flows into the Canal du Midi at Portiragnes, crossing the municipalities of Béziers, Villeneuve-lès-Béziers, Cers and Portiragnes in the Hérault department (34). It has no significant tributaries. Its relatively small watershed is mainly located on the karst plateau of Béziers and does not present any particular hydrographic features.

Starting from the cellar of Vignobles de Montagnac, you will walk a route with low elevation gain, of significant length and duration. You will take the vineyard paths overlooking the Étang de Thau and the Hérault valley. You will encounter 14 monumental statues inspired by wine, vines, and the work of winegrowers.

The dinosaur egg-laying sites, the red lands, the white rocks, and the Étendoir des fées are among the most remarkable geological sites in the municipality. The Étendoir des fées is worth the detour as it is an original formation of limestone rocks, deposited at the beginning of the Tertiary era, during the folding of the Pyrenean-Provençal chain, on a continental plain episodically crossed by rivers.

Imposing fountain in the center of the town of Agde, featuring animals, wild beasts and amphibians, constantly spewing jets of moving water. Above them, a powerful woman, the beautiful Agathoise who gives her name to this monument, looks ahead with a determined air. The scepter in her hand acts like a shepherd's crook. At the feet of the Agathoise, human figures ceaselessly pour out their hydrolat.