Nissan-lez-Enserune (; oc, Nissa d'Ausseruna, link=no, ), also spelled Nissan-lez-Ensérune, is a

French commune The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equi ...

in the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...

, situated just south of

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

. Its inhabitants are called the Nissanais.

Geology and relief

The surrounding hills to the north are formed of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

mounds (including the Ensérune hill) while access to the south is blocked by a long line of

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

hills, part of which forms the red clays of Nissan. These clay banks were mined in the 19th century by potters and tile makers. The hills, parts of which have become uncultivated today, are conducive to the cultivation of vines, that are starting colonization again. The decrease in sheep farming has allowed the reforestation (mainly pine forests) of part of the hills, thus offering vast areas for walking and cycling.

Viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

strongly marked the territory. From Roman times (where it is believed the name of the village originates), the vines spread both on the plain and the hillsides. However, the massive development of this monoculture dates from the end of the 19th century, previous maps and topography attest to the extension of other crops, in particular

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

in the plains areas in older periods (borne out by the three 17th-century windmills that mark the hilltops to the south of village). The old houses in the center of the village, as in all

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

villages, often have their own cellars and sheds that once housed wooden casks and horses so much so there is even a street named Avenue de la Cave, but the last wine producer from this street sold up a few years ago. During the first half of the 20th century, the wine cooperative movement helped to save and keep many small vineyard owners in business. The Nissan cooperative is now part of one of the largest and most active cellar groups in the department, the Vignerons du Pays d'Ensérune. Nissan benefited from the building of the railway, with a station located a kilometre from the village (however trains are currently not stopping there) around which a small commercial area has grown up, in particular a fruit juice packaging and shipping factory which worked across Europe. The presence of the "royal road" (D6009), a major axis developed at the time of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

in order to facilitate communications between Béziers and Narbonne, and the construction of the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considere ...

helped to bring the village to life, although currently it is the villages located on the immediate edge of the canal ( Colombiers,

Poilhes Poilhes (/pɔj/) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department The following is a list of the 342 communes of the Hérault department of France. ...

Capestang Capestang (; oc, Cabestanh) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. History In antiquity, the nearby marshes were crossed by the 1500-metre-long Roman Pont Serme.Colin O’Connor: Roman Bridges, Cambridge University Press 19 ...

, Sallèles) that take advantage of its tourist appeal. Since 1970, the village has developed strongly to the south and west with the appearance of new subdivisions of properties and the installation of some new estates to accommodate the new populations of urban workers (popular because Béziers is 10 km and Narbonne 20 km). The number of inhabitants directly involved in viticulture has greatly decreased. However, there are still a few vignerons with vines surrounding the village who still take up the challenge of producing quality wines and participate in the new development of southern viticulture. There is also a small but serious olive sector producing boutique olive products.

Population

International relations

Nissan-lez-Enserune is twinned with *

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...