Statue of Pierre Paul Riquet
Allées Paul Riquet, Béziers 34500 - France
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Pierre Paul Riquet was born in the city of Béziers in 1604 and rose to the position of what we would today consider to be a tax collector. When Louis XIV decided that he wanted a waterway to be built that linked the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean via the Garonne River, it was Riquet who was charged with the task of making this happen. He spent a great deal of his own time and money making this project happen, the result being the phenomenal Canal du Midi that we know and love today. He is still celebrated by the people of the community as a great innovator they call their own.
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