Minerve

Minerve is a town of 100 people (2020) in Hérault. Minerve has been included in the list of the "most beautiful villages in France". The extraordinary natural environment (gorges de la Cesse and du Brian, natural bridge, causse) of the town has earned it most of its tourist attraction.

Understand

The gorges of the River Briant

Historically, Minerve has been the capital of the Minervois wine region.

Minerve is a small village perched on a rocky outcrop, a true natural oppidum formed by the canyons of the two rivers which converge here: the Cesse and its tributary the Briant (or Brian). Two natural tunnels, the "Pont Grand", 228 m long and varying in height from 6 m to 28 m (at the entrance), and the "Pont Petit", located upstream of the Cesse, 126 m long and with an average height of 15 m , are among the most beautiful geological sites in the Hérault.

See

• Candela — castle wall, 13th century
• Main bridge
• The ramparts.

Saint-Étienne church

• 1 Saint-Étienne church. from the 11th and 12th centuries and its altar (updated Feb 2023)
• The so-called “Templars” gate, rue des Martyrs.
• The barbican.
• The low door (late 13th century) and the prison tower.
• The leper colony.
• The bridge-viaduct of the beginning of the 20th century.
• There is also a replica of the catapult known as the Malvoisine, as well as the sculpture of a dove (by Jean-Luc Séverac, an artist from Capestang), a monument commemorating the Cathar victims (1210).

Eat

• 1 La Table des Troubadours, 1 Rue du Porche, 34210, Minerve, ☏ +33 4 68 91 27 61. Great view across the gorge from a nice shaded terrace Drinks around €2.50.