Béziers

Béziers rises above the Orb, with churches and old streets enclosed by the walls of a medieval viscounty. The town's prosperity had deep roots in the surrounding vineyards. On 22 July 1209 the army of the Albigensian Crusade took Béziers and massacred its inhabitants; many who had sought refuge in the church of the Madeleine were killed there. The catastrophe became one of the most enduring memories of the crusade in southern France.