Villages in the wine growing plain

The little wine-growing village of Bélarga, standing on the banks of the Hérault, is formed of a rectangular urban enclosure the southern part of which opens up to take in the original castle defences. The bourg, which extends from the foot of the château, appears to be a thirteenth-century addition.

The castle’s position is strictly strategic. Indeed, it was built in such a way as to control the road that runs from the coast to the hinterland, as well as the river-crossing, whether by means of the ford or by boat, which is how it was still done until a short time ago.

Standing on a natural mound, the château and its mill were once separated from each other by a marsh, which was later drained. The medieval château underwent modifications at various periods and retains only a small proportion of its original walls. The mill, an important element of baronial power helped to give a certain rhythm to the life of the village: the inhabitants would visit it frequently to have their grain milled in exchange for paying a tax.

The Bélarga communal water-mill is a prime example of a small pond-fed mill, which used to have a paddle-wheel. Over the last hundred years or so, many mills have vanished from the landscape of the hinterland. The ruins of the Bélarga Mill bear witness to times gone by, to the period of seigneurs and villains, a time when you prepared your flour at the pace of a mill-wheel, regulated by the paddle-wheels which, like metronomes, marked the rhythms of the river’s currents.

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