and burnt his mustaches. The railway came to Bédarieux in the 1850s. A 710 metre-long viaduct was constructed across the Orb valley, giving rail access to the coal mines at Graissessac. The railway facilitated communications with Béziers, Sète and Marseille, benefiting Bédarieux's wool and leather trade. During the twentieth century Bédarieux was badly affected by the two world wars and industrial decline. In response, Bédarieux has focused on developing tourism and its cultural industries, as well as seeking to attract new enterprises. Recent improvements include a new sewage treatment plant, several enterprise zones and 'La Tuilerie' - a multipurpose community center that can host conferences, concerts, theatricals and exhibitions. Population Twin towns Bédarieux is twinned with: Leutkirch im Allgäu, Germany, since 1982 Medenine, Tunisia, since 1999 Ouarzazate, Morocco, since 2008 Sights Several streets in Bédarieux retain their 17th-century architecture. The former castle, La Bastide dates from the fourteenth century. It has machicolations, arrow slits and a 16th-century well. A wooden beam has been dendrochronologically dated to 1350, but evidence exists to suggest this had been part of the machicolations of a lower, squatter tower. The well, too, may date from this first construction by the Abbey of Villemagne, (a nearby village) as part of the defences of the ford crossing the River Orb. A document dated 1156 records the king, Louis VII, granting the Abbot the right to extend the fortifications protecting his properties. This, it is assumed, included the construction of La Bastide. The whole property was sold into private hands in the late 16th century, when it became a domaine owning all the land between itself and Bédarieux, two kilometres away. The Promenade de la Perspective (1742), a dyke built to protect the town from the flooding of the river Orb. 200-year-old plane trees grow along its length. 16th-century bridge over the Orb 19th-century railway viaduct with 37 arches Church of Saint-Alexandre built in the 17th–19th century (though recorded in 1189) Maison des Arts: a museum occupying a former hospice. It was opened in 1976 and collects together regional heritage: painting, folklore, archaeology, geology, natural history, folk arts and traditions. Personalities Paul Rabaut (1718–94): Protestant pastor. Guillaume d'Abbes de Cabrebolles (1718–1802), Encyclopédiste was born in Bédarieux. Louis-Annibal Escalle (1737–99): Adjudant-Général, one of Napoleon's lieutenants during his campaigns in Italy and Egypt, died at the siege of Acre. Ferdinand Fabre (1827–98): writer, novelist, mixing Occitan vocabulary with French in