Aigues-Mortes Attractions

Famous for its medieval fortifications, the little town of Aigues-Mortes lies some 30km/20mi east of Montpelier on the western edge of the Camargue, the delta of the Rhône, which is here dotted with numerous lagoons. Two navigable canals, the Chenal Maritime and the Canal du Rhône à Sète, link the town with the sea, 6km/4mi distant.

The town owes its name of the "town of the dead waters" (aquae mortuae) to the bogs and shallow lagoons of the surroundings. St Louis (King Louis IX) possessed no lands bordering on the Mediterranean, so in 1240 he purchased the region from the monks of Psalmody (the remains of their abbey some 4km/2.5mi to the north are being excavated). He then bestowed a number of privileges on the town, which rapidly developed and prospered in the field of commerce and trade as well as in the traditional spheres of fishing and salt-mining.