Plateau des poètes, Public garden in Béziers, France

The Plateau des Poètes is a landscaped garden spanning five hectares with winding pathways, small lakes, and exotic trees distributed across the grounds. Numerous stone and bronze sculptures, benches, and architectural elements are positioned throughout to create different areas and focal points as you walk.

Landscape designers Denis and Eugène Bühler created this garden in 1863, and it officially opened to the public four years later. The site grew to become an important public meeting place for the city during the late 1800s.

The site features bronze busts of French poets scattered throughout, honoring literary figures like Victor Hugo. These sculptures are part of how locals and visitors engage with the space as a place to remember important cultural figures.

The garden runs from the allées Paul Riquet at its upper end down to the railway station below; the main gates open onto both. It opens at 7 AM and closes at 6 PM, or 9 PM in summer. Paths slope and wind between the different parts of the grounds.

The Fontaine du Titan, inaugurated in 1892, rises 17 metres with its rocky base: Injalbert's bronze Atlas carries the globe above a grotto cut into the rock, resting on a shell drawn by horses led by angels. The sculptor also made the basin of L'Enfant au poisson in the wide water parterre.