Ramonville is the first town you'll come to after Toulouse.
There are no locks in Ramonville but there are two recent ports, one technical port and a marina. From a heritage point of view, Saint-Agne aqueduct is a remarkable achievement as it allows a stream pass under the canal.
Where the canal and Palays stream meet, you'll catch a glimpse of Saint-Agne aqueduct from the technical port in Ramonville.
The goal of this aqueduct is to allow the Palays stream, a tributary of the Hers, to pass under the Canal du Midi. The available height to install this engineering structure was so limited that engineer François Garipuy used a siphon system to allow the water to pass under the canal, in 1766.
The aqueduct has two reservoirs, a flushing system upstream, and a receiving reservoir downstream, connected by a brick archway. Water arrives in the flusing system by the power of gravity, and is directed via the brick archway into the receiving reservoir. It then continues to flow according to the principle of communicating vessels. This is a remarkable engineering structure, both for its design and construction, and it was listed as a Historic Monument in 1998.
Barges and all sorts of boats come to this port for maintenance or repair work.
It is the only technical stopover port on the Canal du Midi where careening is possible for boats longer than 40 metres. It was created in the 1980s after the locks were modified to respect the Freycinet gauge (extended to 40 metres in length) on the Canal de Garonne and a part of the Canal du Midi.
This is the first inland waterway port after Toulouse and it was created between 1976 and 1980. The Port-Sud Harbourmaster provides 90 mooring rings. River tourism therefore began to develop at the centre of a new district in the town of Ramonville.
There are some house-boats in the marina and in the surrounding area.
Between the two ports in Ramonville, Madron bridge was built in the 18th century so that the locals of Ramonville could reach the meadows on the banks of the Hers, and the château of the same name on the other side of the Hers. It is also known as the Pont de Mange-Pomme (apple eating bridge) and is believed to have been a place where some skippers would stop for refreshments.
Today, this bridge provides access to the Ferme de Cinquante park, a public place. There is an educational farm there, a fitness trail, a skate park and much more. This is a very pleasant area of greenery close to Toulouse.
A site managed by Voies navigables de France in collaboration with members of the “Entente du Canal du Midi” and their tourist operators.
