Plateau des Poètes Garden

To your right is the entrance to the Plateau des Poètes, Béziers’ great English-style garden, created in the nineteenth century to link the Allées Paul-Riquet with the newly built railway station. Before becoming this vast park, the area was nothing more than a scrub-covered mound already known in the Middle Ages as the “Poets’ Hill” and the “Lovers’ Path”. Everything changed from the 1850s onwards: the arrival of the railway and the city’s expansion prompted the municipality to create a promenade worthy of the great French cities. The project was entrusted to the famous Bühler brothers, who designed here one of their finest gardens, all curves, perspectives and gentle variations in terrain. Work continued until 1867, the year of a colourful inauguration that drew a huge crowd to witness Madame Poitevin’s ascent in a hot-air balloon, a moment still famous in local memory. Today, the Plateau covers five hectares and forms a genuine arboretum. You will find rare species from around the world, such as the centuries-old Japanese pagoda tree, the Arizona cypresses or the large zelkova trees lining its paths. The park is also an open-air museum: the monumental Titan fountain by Injalbert, ponds, sculptures, busts of Occitan poets and the War Memorial together create a unique ensemble in Occitanie. As you walk down toward the station, the garden becomes quieter, marked by a swan lake, rockeries, flowerbeds and tall trees where tits, owls and bats nest. Listed as a Historic Monument and labelled a Remarkable Garden, the Plateau des Poètes remains one of Béziers’ most beloved places, a haven of greenery and poetry where the city seems to slow down. You can enter it now to explore, or continue your route and return a little later.