Bédarieux is 56 km (35 mi) west of Montpellier and 30 km (19 mi) north of Béziers. The commune is in the Orb valley, the river flowing north-south into Bédarieux and east-west downstream.

The Saint-Nazaire-d'Aude de Lodéran chapel (now disappeared) was mentioned in 1153.

Bédarieux was at one time a notable manufacturing centre. Its cloth-weaving industry, carried on under a special royal privilege from the end of the 17th century to the French Revolution, employed in 1789 as many as 5,000 workmen, while some thousand more were occupied in wool and cotton spinning, etc. In spite of the introduction of modern machinery from England, the industries of the place declined, mainly owing to the loss of the trade with the Levant; but in the late 19th century they somewhat revived, owing partly to the opening up of coal mines in the neighbourhood.