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From the Garonne to the Canal du Midi, and from Saint Sernin to the Cité de l'Espace, the many different faces of Toulouse invite visitors to come on a journey of discovery.
France’s fourth-largest metropolitan area is consistently vibrant and combines the easygoing character of the south-west with a self-assurance born not just from its rich cultural heritage, but also from its affluence and role as a high-tech industry town – Toulouse is home to Concorde and Airbus.
Nicknamed the ‘La Ville Rose’ (the rose red city) because of its pink brick buildings, Toulouse, the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region, sits astride the Garonne River and the historic Canal du Midi, midway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
In the heart of the town is the vast, arcaded place du Capitole, where the impressive grandiose Capitole building is the seat of local government. It is definitely worth a visit, if only to see the floor-to-ceiling 19th-century paintings, including Henri Martin’s elaborate depiction of Toulousain life at the time.
South-west of the Basilique St-Sernin is medieval Toulouse, which is dotted with a rich assortment of historic churches, including the Gothic Les Jacobins, where the Dominican order was founded, and the Notre-Dame-de-la-Daurade, a mixture of styles presided over by a black Madonna.
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