Étang de Montady

[2] Popularly believed to have been "constructed by the Visigoths",[3] the Étang de Montady was in fact built by monks and wealthy Béziers landowners during the second half of the 13th century after a 1247 authorization by the Archbishop of Narbonne.

[2] The Étang de Montady was drained to provide much-needed farmland for the Kingdom of France, which was then experiencing a population boom.

[2] This agricultural landscape exists today and can be seen from the Oppidum d'Ensérune, a nearby hill and historic settlement.

[2] The original hydraulic infrastructure used to drain the Étang is similar in design and construction to Arabic qanat, and may therefore trace its lineage to Al-Andalus or North Africa.

[2] It is also comparable to hydraulic engineering works designed and built by the Etruscans and Romans and used throughout the Mediterranean basin during antiquity, including at Albano and Fucino in Italy, at Faiyum in Egypt, and at Copais and Trichonida in Greece.