Cesse Aqueduct is one of several aqueducts

Aqueduct

An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....

, or water bridge, created for the Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi

The is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...

. Originally, the canal crossed the Cesse on the level. Pierre-Paul Riquet

Pierre-Paul Riquet

Pierre-Paul Riquet was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi.-Background:...

, the original architect of the canal, had placed a curved dam 205 metres (672.6 ft) long and 9.1 metres (29.9 ft) high across the Cesse in order to collect water to make the crossing possible; the aqueduct replaced this dam.

The Cesse Aqueduct was designed in 1686 by Marshal Sebastien Vauban

Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...

 and completed in 1690 by Antoine Niquet. Master mason was John Gaudot. It has three spans, the middle being 18.3 metres (60 ft) and the side being 14.6 metres (47.9 ft) each. It is located in Mirepeisset

Mirepeisset

Mirepeisset is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.-Population:...

, Aude

Aude

Aude is a department in south-central France named after the river Aude. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother...

 (11), Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, about one mile from the port town of Le Somail

Le Somail

Le Somail is a hamlet in the Aude department of southwestern France.Le Somail is located along the Canal du Midi. Its territory is shared by 3 communes: Ginestas, Saint-Nazaire-d'Aude and Sallèles-d'Aude....

.