Balade urbaine - Moissac, au fil de l'eau

In the past, several types of wooden boats and towboats were used on the Garonne Canal to transport goods and passengers: barges, coutrillons, sapines and automates (barges). For passenger transport, postal barges were used before being replaced by steamboats. In the 1980s, river tourism gave the Canal a new lease of life. Navigation, which was once commercial, became a leisure activity. Marinas were then developed to accommodate pleasure boaters.

These brick houses were all built to the same design, with adjoining stables and haylofts. Nowadays, the locks are automated, rendering the profession of lock keeper obsolete. These houses are owned by Voies Navigables de France (French Waterways) and are sometimes rented out to private individuals.

It is the third longest canal bridge in France, after Briare in the Loiret and Agen in the Lot-et-Garonne. Built between 1842 and 1846, this bridge is 356 metres long and consists of 15 arches that harmoniously combine white Quercy stone and Toulouse brick. This structure allows boats travelling on the Canal to pass over the River Tarn. During the floods of 1930, the canal bridge served as a temporary railway line from 1930 to 1932, while the railway bridge, damaged by the flood, was being repaired.

Like Montauban, Moissac has a double lock that allows traffic to pass between the Canal and the Tarn.The locks on the Canal de Garonne are Freycinet gauge (38.5m x 5.20m) and are equipped with ‘busquées’ gates (which arch over each other) to optimise watertightness and delimit a lock chamber.

Formerly a wheat mill, then used for hydroelectricity production, this building now houses the municipal campsite. But its walls also hold a piece of history: in 1859, they witnessed the birth of Firmin Bouisset, the illustrious poster artist behind the famous advertisements for Biscuit LU and Chocolat Menier, among others!  We invite you to discover his life and career, and to admire his works at the Espace Firmin Bouisset in Castelsarrasin.  

This iconic monument in the town of Moissac, located on the banks of the Tarn, was built in 1474 by the Viguier de Ricard brothers on the ruins of an old wooden mill. In 1932, Moissac was classified as a Uvale resort for detox treatments based on Chasselas grapes. The banks of the Tarn were then developed to accommodate this wealthy clientele of spa guests (Uvarium tasting kiosk, casino projects, promenades, marina on the river, swimming pool, etc.). The mill was transformed into a luxury hotel in the Art Deco style, which was very fashionable at the time. This project and that of the Uvarium were the only ones to be completed, as grape cures quickly went out of fashion!

On 29 July 1808, Napoleon I arrived in Moissac, crossing the Tarn on a pontoon bridge. During a dinner at the Auberge de l'Ange et de la Marine, Mayor Pierre Détours requested a sub-prefecture for the newly created department (Tarn-et-Garonne), as well as a court, a secondary school and a new bridge. Since the Wars of Religion and the floods, the previous structures had been destroyed, and the perilous crossing was made by ferry. Work began quickly but ceased with the fall of the First Empire (1814). It resumed in 1820 and culminated in the inauguration of the Marie-Thérèse Bridge on 19 December 1824. It was named in honour of the Dauphine, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, who is said to have laid the keystone of the bridge. It finally became the ‘Pont Napoléon’ in 1859, after Napoleon III's visit to Moissac.