Bessan
| Bessan | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Herault | |
| Arrondissement | Beziers | |
| Canton | Agde | |
| Community association | Hérault Méditerranée | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 22 ′ N , 3 ° 26 ′ E | |
| height | 0-84 m | |
| surface | 27.65 km 2 | |
| Residents | 5,069 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 183 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 34550 | |
| INSEE code | 34031 | |
| Website | bessan.fr/ | |
 Bessan Town Hall |
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Bessan ( Occitan : Beçan ) is a French commune with 5069 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region . It belongs to the arrondissement of Béziers and the canton of Agde . The inhabitants are called Bessanais .
geography
Bessan is located between the towns of Agde (seven kilometers) and Béziers (14 kilometers) on the Hérault River. Bessan is surrounded by the neighboring communities of Saint-Thibéry in the north and north-west, Florensac in the east, Agde in the south-east, Vias in the south, Montblanc in the west and north-west.
The A9 car route and the former national route 312 run through the municipality .
history
Due to the topographical situation, Hannibal must have moved through the municipality with his war elephants around 218 BC. In 408/409 AD the settlement was sacked by the united Burgundians, Suebi and Vandals. The town was fortified between 1050 and 1100.
| Population development | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2017 |
| 2919 | 2972 | 2911 | 2.97 | 3356 | 4025 | 4343 | 5069 |
Attractions
- Church Saint-Pierre-es-Liens , originally built as a simple wooden church around 990, Monument historique
- Former chapel Saint-Laurent de Touroulle , built in the 11th century, as well as the visigothic burial place removed by a road construction project
- Gates and fortifications
- Ruins of the mills on the Hérault, former water mills that belonged to the Bishop of Agde
- Town hall from 1777
- Cactus Park, botanical garden over eight hectares with numerous cacti and succulents
economy
The brandy producer Pernod Ricard runs a distillery here. Good wines grow in the municipality and are successfully marketed by a cooperative - also in direct sales.
Parish partnership
Bessan has a partnership with the Luxembourg municipality of Remich .
