Le Crès, the densest municipality after Montpellier
The Crès has 9,226 inhabitants over just under 6 square kilometres, making it the 4th densest commune in Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, with 1,489 inhabitants per square kilometre, behind Montpellier, Jacou and Castelnau-le-Lez. Its name comes from l The original garrigue has largely given way to habitat over the decades, but a green lung remains along the Salaison, the river that gave its name to the northern part of the city. Every year, a local party is held around the weekend of August 15, on the market square and in the arenas.
Twenty-three minutes to the lake
From Saint-Jean-de-Védas, it takes 23 minutes to drive for 20 kilometers. The departmental road 613, an old national road to Nîmes, crosses the southern part of the Crès agglomeration; north, the road of Jacou diverts traffic north from Montpellier. It is a journey that lends itself to a day trip more than just a quick round trip, passing to the south by the departmental road 613 or, further north, by the road of Jacou that bypasses the centre of Montpellier.
A lake on an old quarry
Lake Crès occupies 6 hectares in a maintained green space of 27 hectares, with a maximum depth of 15 meters. Exploited as a career from the 1960s to the 1990s, the site was transformed into a bathing lake and recreational trails in the mid-1990s, with the initiative of a municipal councillor opposed to the initial landfill project. A bike path and a pedestrian circuit complete the whole, and swimming is monitored on half of the surface in summer.
Agora, the arenas and a Saharan museum
The Agora showroom, inaugurated in 2017, offers 1,300 m2 and a 246-seat amphitheater for theatre, concert or dance. The new arenas of the Crès, whose first stone was laid in 2024, have 850 places for shows, concerts and Taurin games. More discreet, a Saharan museum completes the cultural offer of the commune, a curiosity that few villages in the metropolis can claim. On Avenue des Baleares, a bronze band by artist Nella Buscot, entitled "On the way to school", recalls that the town has not forgotten public art in the midst of its great facilities.
The Domitian Way, An Ancient Marker
The ancient Roman way still crosses the commune from east to west. A milestone in the name of Emperor Augustus stands on the Caius Domitius roundabout, while a fragment dedicated to Emperor Tiberius, embedded in the facade of St.Martin's Church, indicates the 62nd thousand Roman from Narbonne. The church itself, dedicated to Saint Martin, dates from the 11th century.
In the city, the Liberty Park and Georges Brassens Park offer shorter, convenient green breaks with young children.
Studio or duplex for a day by the water
For a two-way, the studio enough : equipped kitchen to prepare a picnic before leaving for the lake. Family, the duplex offers two bedrooms and a washing machine, convenient after a bathing day. Both units are in the city centre of Saint-Jean-de-Védas, about 7 minutes walk from the tram, with a stay without minimum nights and quick access to the A9 to take the road east. The page devoted to Castelnau-le-Lez details the nearby municipality of Crès.
