Toulouse, France: A Video

For those who don’t know me, I was born and raised in Toulouse, France. I left the city in 2003 and moved to Winnipeg, Canada.

Before my last trip to Toulouse in 2016, I used to go back every 12 to 18 months. Unfortunately, many members of my family have passed away over the years, and only a couple of my relatives still live there.

Of course, the pandemic has made travelling very challenging. And I am no longer in my 20s. Flying to France is exhausting (and expensive)! I spend an average of 15 to 17 hours in planes and airports, then lose seven hours instantly. It usually takes me a minimum of two or three days to recover from the lack of sleep. The change of atmosphere is also another challenge for me. Winnipeggers are quiet and friendly. I love Toulouse, but the hustle and bustle of the city requires some getting used to. Further, French people can be quite nosy and in your face…

During my visits to Toulouse, I always take tons of photos, especially of the old area, which boasts amazing architecture! I would like to share some of them with you.

Toulouse: A Short History

Toulouse has been inhabited since the 8th century B.C. The original settlers lived in the hills overlooking the Garonne, a few kilometres south of today’s city center. The site was also conveniently located between the Pyrénées, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, which helped make it a major trading center.

Toulouse’s first name was Tolosa. Julius Caesar also called it Tolosates. Overall, though, the name has not changed much over the centuries.

According to Wikipedia, the city “was one of the wealthiest and most important cities in Gaul during the pre-Roman era. Gold and silver mines were nearby, and offerings to its shrines and temples accumulated wealth in the city.”

Toulouse was integrated into the Roman empire during the 2nd century BC and boasted aqueducts, theatres, therms and a forum. Actually, it was the fourth largest city in the western half of the empire!

Toulouse changed hands quite few times. It became the capital of the Visigothic kingdom, which stretched from the Loire Valley to the Gibraltar Strait, in AD 418; part of the Merovingian kingdom 90 years later (thanks to Clovis I); the chief town of the Carolingian kingdom of Aquitaine after successfully withstanding a Saracens siege in 721; and the seat of the feudal countship of Toulouse after 778.

The early history of the city is marred by the martyrdom of its first Bishop, St Saturnin(us) (or St Sernin).

[T]o reach the Christian church Saturninus had to pass before the capitol [the Capitole], where there was an altar, and according to the Acts [of Saturninus] were employed as historical sources by the chronicler Gregory of Tours, the pagan priests ascribed the silence of their oracles to the frequent presence of Saturninus. One day they seized him and on his unshakeable refusal to sacrifice to the images, they condemned him to be tied by the feet to a bull which dragged him about the town until the rope broke. (Tellingly, the identical fate was ascribed to his pupil Saint Fermin whose site of martyrdom is at Pamplona.)

The bull, it is said, finished at the place since named Matabiau — that is, matar (“the killing”) and biau or bœuf (“bull”). […] Two Christian women piously gathered up the remains and buried them in a “deep ditch”, that they might not be profaned by the pagans. […]

The site, said to be “where the bull stopped” is on rue du Taur (“Street of the Bull”).

Source: Wikipedia

In 403, the site of the Bishop’s grave was used as the building location for Saint-Sernin Basilica.

Toulouse played an important role during the Albigensian Crusade. Raymond VI, its count, was a Catholic and a Cathar sympathizer.

The city was besieged several times. The last assault (1217–1218) saw the death of their leader, Simon IV de Montfort. “Simon stopped to aid his brother Guy, who had been wounded by a crossbow, and was hit on the head by a stone from one of the defenders’ siege engines (either the trebuchet or a mangonel), apparently operated by donas e tozas e mulhers (ladies, girls, and women). It killed him. The leadership of the Crusade fell to his son Amaury but the siege was soon lifted.” (Source: Wikipedia)

The Dominican order was also established in Toulouse during that time. (Founder Saint Dominic’s home was at 7 Place du Parlement, which is less than 200 metres away from I used to live. There is a memorial plaque on the building.)

The Inquisition settled in the city in the 1230s, via the Council of Toulouse. Its hunt for heretics contributed to crushing the Cathar movement in the 14th century.

Toulouse had its first university in 1229. Its aim was to teach theology and Aristotelian philosophy, and combat heresy. It is also one of the oldest in Europe.

Toulouse is famous for its Capitouls.

The council of chief magistrates was born after Count Raymond IV’s death (1152). Eight men were selected for a year to rule the state. The number increased to 12 in 1176 and 24 in 1222. Each of them represented a district of the city.

The Capitouls settled in the Capitole, the newly built town council headquarters. They “granted themselves the rights of police, trade, imposition and started some conflicts with the closest cities. Toulouse was usually victorious, extending the domination of the patria tolosana. Despite the intervention of the king, the administration of the Capitouls gave a relative independence to the city, for nearly 600 years, until the French Revolution.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Only Catholic, married men of over 25 years of age, who owned a house in Toulouse and worked in a field like the law or trade could become Capitouls.

After a series of disasters, including the Black Plague, massive floods, and the Great Fire of 1463, Toulouse enjoyed a golden period known as the Pastel era (1463–1560):

“Pastel is the blue gold of Toulouse. During the Renaissance, it made the Toulouse merchants very wealthy. Today, pastel is again being used to colour textiles and in the manufacturing of cosmetic products, thanks to the dermatological properties of its oil.” (Source: Office de Tourisme de Toulouse)

(More information on woad can be found here.)

Many of the most beautiful private mansions-”hôtels particuliers”-were built in that era. The best example is Hôtel d’Assézat, near the Pont Neuf.

Unfortunately, woad was eclipsed by the discovery of indigo in India…

The end of the Pastel era saw the birth of French Wars of Religion. Those lasted for more than three decades-until the publication of the Edict of Nantes (1598).

In 1562, street riots between Huguenots and Catholics claimed 3,000 lives. In the Saint-Georges district, 200 houses were burned.

During the second part of the 16th century, the local Inquisition continued its combat against heresy, burning at least 18 Protestants alive. The University of Toulouse, a centre of humanistic ferment, also reached the incredible number of 10,000 students!

Two plague epidemics hit Toulouse hard in 1629 and 1652. Those events forced the city and local parliament to cooperate in order to help victims:

Most of the clergy and the wealthy left the city, but doctors were required to stay. Starvation led the remaining Capitouls to prevent the butchers and bakers from leaving.

La Grave Hospital accommodated those affected by the epidemic, quarantining them. The Pré des Sept Deniers also accepted many patients under hazardous conditions. Before closing its gates, the city attracted the poor with a medical infrastructure offering more hope than the countryside.

In 1654, when the second epidemic ended, the city was devastated. However, during plague-free periods two major projects were completed: the Pont-Neuf in 1632 and the Canal du Midi in 1682. Famine occurred in 1693.

Source: Wikipedia

In the 18th century, Toulouse became a leading city in the field of law. It also took advantage of its new city planner.

Louis de Mondran designed parks inspired by English painters and philosophers, three of which still exist today-the Boulingrin (or Grand Rond), the Jardin des Plantes, and the Jardin Royal.

The Cours Dillon, the façade du Capitole (1750–1760), and the Canal de Brienne (1770–1776) were also built during that century.

One major event shook the city in the 1760s. It is still remembered to this day.

One day, Jean Calas, a Protestant merchant living in Toulouse, found his eldest son dead in the family home. Despite the family claiming murder then suicide, rumours quickly spread that the father had killed him. Overwhelming evidence showed that only suicide was possible. Nevertheless, the court in Toulouse would not change its verdict.

Calas was tortured in an attempt to get him to admit that he was guilty. His arms and legs were stretched until they pulled out of their sockets. Thirty pints (more than 17 litres) of water were poured down his throat. He was tied to a cross in the cathedral square where each of his limbs were broken twice by an iron bar. Yet with all this torture he continued to declare his innocence.

On March 9, 1762 the parlement (regional court) of Toulouse sentenced Jean Calas to death on the wheel. On March 10, at the age of 64, he died tortured on the wheel, while still very firmly claiming his innocence.

Source: Wikipedia

Doubts about Calas’s guilt remained. Voltaire launched a vigorous press campaign that led to his posthumous exoneration in 1765. The Calas family also received monetary compensation.

(The Calas Home still exists. It is located at 50 rue des Filatiers.)

After the French Revolution and the creation of départements in 1790, Toulouse lost some of its power. Rival city Bordeaux got the advantage…

After the final battle of the Napoleonic Wars, during which the British army entered the city, Toulouse did not follow the movement of the first Industrial Revolution. The new technology was only embraced around the mid-19th century.

The advent of railways helped Toulouse progress economically. Unfortunately, its narrow, medieval streets proved an impediment to the development of more shops and factories. Haussmannian street projects (copying the Paris model) alleviated the problem and resulted in the construction of two major avenues — rue d’Alsace-Lorraine and rue de Metz.

Toulouse had the second largest Manufacture des Tabacs (tobacco factory) in France. Built in 1810, it used hydro-electric power from the Garonne river and employed 2,000 (mainly female) workers.

The 19th century also saw the addition of two bridges: Pont Saint-Michel (1844) and Pont Saint-Pierre (1852). The Théâtre du Capitole, Natural History Museum, and Musée Saint-Raymond also opened-in 1818, 1865 and 1892 respectively. Finally, Toulouse got its first tramway in 1862.

Population reached 147,617 over two decades later.

During WWI, Georges Latécoère founded the Aeropostale, a pioneering aviation company that specialized in airborne postal services. Destinations included Morocco, Barcelona and South America. It also boasted talented pilots like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

In the 1930s, the company was hit by the financial crisis and integrated with other aviation companies into newly created Air France.

(Today, Toulouse is at the centre of the European space sector. The same goes for the aviation industry. It holds the top spot on the continent and ranks number 2 in the world. The Airbus planes are built there.)

On September 21, 2001, Toulouse’s AZF chemical plant exploded, killing 29 people and damaging many buildings, including schools, houses, churches, monuments, and shops. The factory was destroyed, of course, and “replaced” by a crater that was 7 meters deep and 40 meters wide.

I still remember the event vividly. At least two loud bangs were heard (as far as 100 kilometres away). A few seconds later, the earth and buildings shook. Windows exploded everywhere.

Then, everything went “dark”. People inside the city were cut off from the rest of the world for about 24 hours. Phones did not work and we were told to stay inside. It was a very surreal experience, especially because I had driven by that area the day before at around the same time (10 a.m.). The 9/11 events had also occurred 10 days earlier.

A few years later, a cancer research center was “built on the ashes” of the factory. But people still speculate about what really happened. Some will tell you that it was a terrorist attack. However, the plant, which belonged to the Total group, had a history of being poorly maintained. According to a person who had worked there in the 1970s, the accident was just a matter of time…

In 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13. Toulouse became the capital of Occitanie two years later.

A Few Places to See in Toulouse

• Place St Etienne - One the most beautiful squares in the city. It boasts the oldest fountain in the city and the Saint-Etienne Cathedral, a stunning Gothic church that was built over five centuries. It is also surrounded with antique dealer shops and quaint restaurants and cafés. On Saturdays, there is a second-hand book market.
• Jardin des plantes - A public park and botanical garden located in the old area of the city. It is part of a network of three public gardens that can be accessed via metal footbridges. The garden is bordered by the Medical school, the 16th-century Natural history museum, the Daniel-Sorano theatre, and the Saint-Exupère church.
• Jardin du Grand Rond - Also known as Boulingrin), this garden was created between 1752 and 1754 and was originally used as a boules-playing area. The garden was then modified, statues added, and alleys constructed. Today, it features a small bandstand where people practice dancing on a regular basis.
• Grand-Rond is linked to Jardin des Plantes and Jardin Royal by footbridges. Walk to the end of the avenue and you will reach one of the entrances to Jardin du Grand Rond. Toulouse’s main (WWI) war memorial is behind you. Every first weekend of the month, antique dealers also gather there.
• Musée des Augustins - One of the oldest museums in the country. The building that houses it dates back to 1309; it was built in the Gothic style. The museum is famous for its cloister, its convent (opened to the public in August 1795) and its 4,000 sculptures / paintings made between the Middle Ages and the early 20th century. It also has an organ that was built in 1981.
• Jardin japonais - The Japanese Garden) is a wonderful little public park. Created at the beginning of the 1980s, it is perfect for anyone interested in a change of scenery without leaving the city.
• Prairie des filtres - It once was a runway and a rugby training ground. During the war, people used it as a vegetable garden. Today, it is a very popular park and venue for several major annual events, including the Bastille Day fireworks, which takes place on July 14th.
• Pont Neuf - Built in the 16th century, the Pont Neuf (“New Bridge”) is a non-symmetrical bridge. Its longest arch is the third one from the left. “The openings through the piers were originally supposed to represent the face and mane of a lion. A triumphal archway added in 1686 constricted traffic and was removed in 1860.” (Source: Wikipedia)
• Bazacle - The Bazacle (from the Latin word “vadaculum” or “little ford”) has been used since the 12th century. The water being at its shallowest there, the first bridge across the Garonne River was built at that spot. Its adjacent mills even impressed Rabelais. From 1890 to 1946, a hydroelectric power station supplied Toulouse with electricity. Now, the space is used as a museum that features temporary exhibitions, a terrace overhanging the river, a photo gallery, and a fish pass. You can even see working turbines.
• Church of Saint-Pierre des Chartreux - The church has a beautiful nave with a marble altar, and is decorated with frescoes, bas-reliefs and paintings. It also boasts a 17th-century organ. The remains of its monastery’s cloister are still visible in the gardens of the University of Social Sciences.
• Fontaine Hyppolite Olivier - A gift from Chocolate Maker Hyppolite Olivier in 1886, the fountain commemorates the flood that destroyed 1,400 homes and claimed 210 lives in June 1875. It is located in the Saint-Cyprien neighborhood, one of the most affected areas in the city.
• Canal du Midi - The 240-km-long canal connects Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea via the Étang de Thau. It is one of the oldest European canals still in operation. Construction lasted from 1666 to 1681, under the supervision of Pierre-Paul Riquet whose goal was to provide an inland water route. “The key challenge was to convey water from the Montagne Noire (Black Mountains) to the Seuil de Naurouze, the highest point of the canal.” (Source: Wikipedia) The Canal du Midi has 91 working locks that are still operated by keepers. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
• Canal de Brienne - A short canal that starts at Bazacle and connects the Garonne River to the Canal du Midi and the Canal de Garonne. They meet at the Ponts Jumeaux (“twin bridges”). The 18th-century canal owes its name to Etienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne (1727–1794), archbishop of Toulouse.
• Eglise des Jacobins - A deconsecrated Roman Catholic church, whose construction started in the 13th century. Now a museum, it houses the relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Its palm tree ceiling is famous worldwide.
• Hôtel d'Assézat - An 18th-century hôtel particulier (private mansion) built by Nicolas Bachelier for Pierre d’Assézat, who had made his fortune from woad. The building houses the Fondation Bemberg, a private museum that features paintings, drawings, sculptures, ancient books and furniture formerly owned by Georges Bemberg (1915–2011).
• Basilique Saint-Sernin - The basilica is located on the site of a 4th-century basilica that contained the body of Saint Sernin, the first bishop of Toulouse. This is the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.
• More places to see: Place du Capitole, Musée Saint-Raymond, Cité de l’Espace, and the banks of the river Garonne.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) is considered a major French author of the 20th century. He wrote great books, including the masterpiece The Little Prince.

Saint-Exupéry is also a pioneer in international postal flight. He worked for Aéropostale in Toulouse for a while, covering routes between France, Spain and North Africa.

Saint-Exupéry disappeared in August 1944, during a reconnaissance mission over occupied France. The wreckage of his plane was found 56 years later in the Mediterranean Sea, near Marseille.

That's it for today! Thank you for reading!

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Cendrine Marrouat is a writer, photographer, podcaster, blogger, anthology editor, and the co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms and A Warm Cup of Cozy. She has authored and co-authored more than 40 books, including The Train: A Short Story (2023), In Her Own Words: A Collection of Short Stories & Flashku (2022), After the Fires of Day: Haiku Inspired by Kahlil Gibran & Alphonse de Lamartine (2021), Rhythm Flourishing: A Collection of Kindku and Sixku (2020), Walks: A Collection of Haiku (2019-2020), and In the Silence of Words: A Three-Act Play (2018).

Cendrine's work has appeared in many publications. She is the creator of the Sixku, Flashku, Sepigram, and Reminigram; as well as the co-creator of the Kindku, Pareiku, Vardhaku, and Hemingku.

Website: https://creativeramblings.com