TOULOUSE
today
LOUBATIÈRES
CONTENTS The city’s origins (ALS) .................................................................................................................................. 7 Roman Toulouse (ALS) .................................................................................................................................. 8 The Capitole (JLM) ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Saint-Sernin basilica (ALS) ..................................................................................................................... 14 The Jacobins (ALS) ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Saint-Étienne cathedral (ALS) .............................................................................................................. 20 Gables for bells (JLM) ................................................................................................................................. 23 Mansions for merchants (JLM) ............................................................................................................ 24 Mansions for lawyers (JLM) ................................................................................................................... 27 Embankments against floods (JLM) .................................................................................................. 29 Embankment as balcony (JLM) ............................................................................................................ 30 Pont Neuf (JLM) .............................................................................................................................................. 33 L'Hôtel-Dieu (ALS) ........................................................................................................................................ 34 The Bazacle (JLM) ......................................................................................................................................... 37 South of the city (JR) ................................................................................................................................ 38 The canal du Midi (JLM) ........................................................................................................................... 41 Parks in and outside Toulouse (JR) ................................................................................................... 42 Nature everywhere (JR) ............................................................................................................................ 45 Leisure and nature (JR) ............................................................................................................................ 46 Nearby forest (JR) ........................................................................................................................................ 49 Nakache swimming pool (JLM) ............................................................................................................ 50 Saint-Raymond museum (ALS) ............................................................................................................ 53 Augustins museum (ALS) ......................................................................................................................... 54 Musée du Vieux-Toulouse (ALS) ......................................................................................................... 57 Paul Dupuy museum (ALS) ...................................................................................................................... 58 Abattoirs museum (ALS) ........................................................................................................................... 61 Natural History Museum (ALS) ............................................................................................................ 62 Occitan and cosmopolitan (ALS) ........................................................................................................ 64 Bricks (JLM) ....................................................................................................................................................... 66 Aviation (ALS) .................................................................................................................................................. 69 Space (ALS) ........................................................................................................................................................ 70 Universities (ALS) .......................................................................................................................................... 73 Bon appétit! (SV) ........................................................................................................................................... 77 Dyer’s woad (pastel) (ALS) ...................................................................................................................... 78 Violets (ALS) ...................................................................................................................................................... 81 Red and black (ALS) ..................................................................................................................................... 82 Books and reading (ALS) .......................................................................................................................... 85 Theatres (ALS) .................................................................................................................................................. 86 Music (ALS) ....................................................................................................................................................... 89 Rugby (SV) ......................................................................................................................................................... 90
ISBN : 978-2-86266-731-7 © Nouvelles Éditions Loubatières, 2015 20, avenue Pierre-Marty 31390 Carbonne www.loubatieres.fr
TOULOUSE today
LOUBATIÈRES
32
Beaux-Arts
Château d’eau
The Toulouse school of fine arts, the heir to the Société des Beaux Arts founded in 1746, was established in 1896 in the buildings that had housed the Boyer-Fonfrède textile mill and then a tobacco factory, on the site of the Benedictine monastery gardens. Now the Institut Supérieur des Arts de Toulouse runs courses in plastic arts, design and graphic design, and, since 2011, the performing arts of music and dance.
This water tower that once supplied the city’s public drinking fountains was saved from demolition in the early 1970s and converted on the suggestion of a visionary photographer, Jean Dieuzaide (1921-2003), into a municipal photograph gallery, the first in France. In over forty years, two new exhibition rooms and a document centre have been created and the work of hundreds of photographers from all over the world has been shown, providing the people of Toulouse with an incomparable panorama of photographic creation.
PONT NEUF The older Daurade bridge was narrow and often damaged by the Garonne floods; so in 1541, Franรงois I decided to build a new (neuf) bridge and authorised the city of Toulouse to raise a tax to pay for it. Pont Neuf and triumphal arch in 1865.
As the sole bridge linking Toulouse to the west, it had the strategic purpose of enabling troops to move more easily between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and strengthen defences against Spain. The design was entrusted to Nicolas Bachelier of Toulouse. After he died in 1557, his son Dominique took over the work, which lasted 88 years in all. The bridge originally had eight arches of varying span, one of which is now concealed in the Cours Dillon embankment. To dig the foundations for the piers and abutments, at low water in July and August, a cofferdam would be built of posts and brushwood (fascines), poorly sealed with clay, oakum and fat. Hand pumps were used to discharge the inevitable leakage. In 1597, the work was handed over to Pierre Souffron, architect of Auch cathedral. By 1606, a wooden roadway was laid across the stone piers, but this was swept away by a May flood seven years later. The asymmetric bridge (ten metres difference of elevation between the banks) was finally completed in 1632. A triumphal archway with two square towers built at the lower end in 1642 narrowed the carriageway to 5 metres, and was demolished in 1867.
33
48
Woodpecker world
Forked tongues
With no fewer than five nesting species (European green, Picus viridis, great spotted, Dendrocopos major, middle spotted, Leiopicus medius, lesser spotted, Dryobates minor, and black, Dryocopus martius) Bouconne is a prime site to observe this family of drillers and drummers that like to live in holes in dead trees.
Vipera aspis has few friends and a bad reputation (Cleopatra’s asp) but one of its few remaining refuges is in the Toulouse plain. It is an indicator species of a healthy ecosystem and has unfortunately disappeared from most areas adjacent to the city. In these areas what we see more often are the non-venomous colubrids, mainly grass snakes, some of which come close to houses.
Stumps A dead tree, lying on the ground or still standing, is well worth a closer look. Its apparently inert trunk is an oasis for a profusion of wildlife. Saproxylic beetles, for example, that depend on decaying wood, mosses, fungi and lichens that help break down the tree’s cellulose and turn it into the humus that feeds the forest’s wealth.
NEARBY FOREST Bouconne Forest, 2,380ha/5,900 acres, out beyond the airport, is what is left of an older, larger forest. It is home to a range of wildlife and at weekends it is a favourite spot for walkers. If you stray from the beaten track during the day or walk quietly at dusk, you can enjoy its secret life. On summer evenings in some of the clearings a sort of insect sound can be heard that is in fact the song of the nightjar, Caprimulgidae family, a bird so perfectly camouflaged that during the day you cannot see it even on the ground in front of you. The forest contains trees of all sizes, ages, and species, and provides a variety of natural habitat, with scrubland, forest edge, ponds and ditches. A simple cart rut may contain tiny “dragons” with emerging plant-like gills. These are the larvae of salamanders that live in water before graduating to land months later as adults. Sharp eyes and ears and a little patience will uncover the proliferating wildlife in these woods so near the city.
Oaks and hornbeams in Bouconne forest.
49
52
The Martres Venus
Roman amphitheatre
Aphrodite, Venus for the Romans, was the goddess of love. The head found in Martres-Tolosane, with its beautiful oval face, may have belonged to a statue. Although one eye is higher and larger than the other, they both regard us sweetly. Her eyebrows are unobtrusive, and her full, sensual lips seem about to speak. Two headbands hold her backswept hair. This marble head of the Venus of Martres discovered on the site of the Roman villa at Chiragan is one of the most striking exhibits in the Saint-Raymond museum.
In about AD 50, three public baths, a market, a drinking fountain and an amphitheatre were built close to ancient Tolosa (where Purpan hospital now stands). The site was abandoned during the 5th century and was only rediscovered during digs in 1983. The amphitheatre, built before those in Arles and NĂŽmes, was the only one to have been constructed almost entirely of brick. For over three centuries it was the venue for spectacles, particularly gladiatorial combats. It is now the only Roman monument in Toulouse almost entirely visible.
Limekiln Lime, Ca(OH)2, essential in making mortar for construction, is obtained by heating limestone or, better still, marble. When this kiln was discovered during a dig under the museum, it still held vestiges of coffins and architectural elements that were evidence of construction build decades before the kiln. These remains also reveal the wealth of this district under the late Roman Empire.
SAINT-RAYMOND MUSEUM Near the west front of Saint-Sernin basilica stands the former Saint-Raymond college, built by the master mason Louis Privat in 1523, now the Toulouse museum of antiquities with an archaeological collection of nearly 1,000 pieces. You can follow the life of ancient Tolosa, from the 3rd-century BC Celtic Volcae Tectosages to the end of the GalloRoman period. The top floor is devoted to preRoman and Roman Toulouse. It contains some exceptional Gallic gold torcs, characteristic bracelets and neck-rings displaying the wealth of the original inhabitants, and a model of the great temple on the Roman forum, now the Place Esquirol. On the floor below there is a set of exhibits from the Roman villa at Martres-Tolosane, with a splendid gallery of busts of Roman emperors and personages, marble reliefs of the labours of Hercules, reproductions of Greek sculptures, etc. The museum’s basement has also revealed some surprises. During extensive excavation, part of the Early Christian necropolis was found that had been laid out around Saint Saturninus’s grave in the 4th and 5th centuries. You can also see a remarkable collection of delicately carved sarcophagi, including that of the semi-mythical “Queen Pédauque”, recognisable by the goose feet on the top (pe d’auco is goose foot in Occitan). The garden boasted until April 2015 a huge Celtis or hackberry-tree but still gives a splendid view of Saint-Sernin.
53
DYER’S WOAD (PASTEL) From the late 14th century on, a little plant with the botanical name of Isatis tinctoria brought wealth to the Toulouse region. This “blue gold” was grown across the Lauragais countryside south-east of Toulouse, appreciated by the great Renaissance agronomist Olivier de Serres: “Of all the realm, pastel thrives only in the Lauragais”. The leaves were crushed then fermented as a paste (thus pastel), which was shaped into a ball or cake (coque) that was left to dry. This produced a fast light-blue pigment for dyeing textiles. The colour became the fashion at every court in the Renaissance and a symbol of wealth and nobility. Locals are fond of the name “land of Cockaigne”, a country of cakes and honey imagined centuries earlier in several other places in Europe. Woad made the fortune of powerful traders who set up companies across Europe. Two of them, Jean de Bernuy and Pierre d’Assézat marked their success by building splendid mansions in the heart of the city. The golden age came to an end in 1561 when there arrived from the “Indies” a competitor, indigo, which was more effective and cheaper. In modern times, the natural colouring and cosmetic qualities of pastel are exploited in a wide range of products made by Graine de Pastel. Outside Toulouse, the Terre de Pastel site boasts a museum of the history of the plant and a unique spa to experience its benefits.
Inside Graine de Pastel shop, Place Saint-Étienne.
78
Right: woad dye vats in Muséum Terre de Pastel.
79
WRITTEN BY
PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS
Anne Le Stang (ALS) est journaliste indépendante, auteur d’un ouvrage sur l’histoire de Toulouse.
Ville de Toulouse-Patrice Nin : 1re de couverture, 14-15, 1819, 24-25, 43, 60h, 62-63, 80b, 82-83, 84-85 ; Nicolas Peaudeau-NEL : 6-7, 22b, 25, 38-39, 39, 42, 46-47, 47d, 48-49, 49, 58, 74 h, 90 ; Raphaël De Filippo-AFAN : 7 ; Institut de France : 8 ; Jean-François Peiré-MSR : 8-9, 17m, 17b, 52g, 52d, 52-53, 53 ; Maxence Fabiani-NEL : 10g, 12-13, 17h, 20, 23, 26-27, 32g, 32d, 35d, 42-43, 44-45, 51b, 61h, 64bg, 64bd, 65b, 7273, 73, 76-77, 89 ; Archives municipales de Toulouse : 10d, 12h, 12m (20Fi774), 29 (5Fi26), 33 (3Fi140), 36 (BB273), 40 (9F16320), 50b (2Fi2492), 51hd (Labouche Frères/9Fi0732), 55 (Neurdein Frères/9Fi4844), 63g (2Fi3976), 62d (1Fi5337), 66 (Giscard/46Fi0065), 75 (3Fi1079), 81b, 82 (BB280), 84d (9Fi5867), 91g (2Fi2287) ; STC, Mairie de Toulouse : 11 ; Joseph Hilfiger-Fotolia : 10-11, 18-1, 32-33, 34-35 ; Jean-Jacques Ader / La Cinémathèque de Toulouse : 14 ; Marie Sacha-Fotolia : 16-17 ; Nicolas Guérin : 19 ; fred34560-Fotolia : 20-21 ; Alce-Fotolia : 22h ; Collection particulière : 24, 85 ; Caroline Lena Becker : 27 ; thanunkorn-Fotolia : 28-29 ; Musée du Vieux-Toulouse : 30, 56g, 56d, 56b, 57h, 57b ; inconitO : 31 ; jundream-Fotolia : 30-31 ; Raphaël Chalmeau : 34 ; Jamiecat : 35g ; Jean-Luc Petit : 36-37 ; Adelaïde Maisonabe : 37-1 ; Jean Ramière : 38 ; Pase4-Dreamstime.com : 40-41 ; Rrrainbowthinkstock : 41 ; Luis Daniel Carbia Cabeza : 45 ; Noel Reynolds : 46h ; Agustín Povedano : 46b ; David Evans : 47g ; Alastair Rae : 48g ; Laurent Lebois : 48d ; Germaine Chaumel : 50h ; Gaël Lehir : 51hg ; Hervé : 54 ; Pistolero31 : 54-55 ; Daniel Molinier : 58-59 ; Patrick Riou : 60b ; Cedrick Eymenier : 61b ; Maud Dahlem, Muséum de Toulouse : 62 ; Andover-Harvard Theological Library : 64h ; DR : 65hg ; Ville de ToulouseJulien Dromas : 65hd, 88-89 ; Julien Ortet : 66-67 ; Frédérique Félix-Faure : 68g, 68d ; Sylvain Ramadier-Airbus : 68-69 ; Hôtel du Grand Balcon : 69 ; Manuel Huynh-Cité de l’espace : 70 ; Y. Obrenovitch-Thales Alenia Space : 70-71 ; Daniel Avril : 74 bg ; A. Labat, Direction de la communication et de la culture, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier : 74-75 ; Sébastien Vaissière : 77 ; Graine de Pastel : 78 ; Terre de Pastel : 78-79 ; Food-micro-Dreamstime.com : 80hg ; Groupe Berdoues : 80hd ; Benoît Serres : 81h ; P. Morand : 84g ; Cave Poésie : 86 ; Polo Garat – Odessa : 86-87 ; Arthur Bramao : 87 ; Thomas Guillin pour Toulouse les Orgues : 88h ; R. Wendling : 88d ; Tech I Racing : 91d ; Pierre-Selim Huard : 90-91.
Jean-Loup Marfaing (JLM) est architecte et historien, auteur de plusieurs ouvrages sur l’architecture et le patrimoine. Jean Ramière (JR) est naturaliste, auteur de plusieurs ouvrages sur la nature et l’ornithologie. Sébastien Vaissière (SV) est journaliste indépendant, créateur d’une revue consacrée à la vie rurale, auteur de plusieurs ouvrages. Roger Depledge est traducteur.
The publisher wishes to thank all those who helped produce this book.
Maquette et photogravure : Nouvelles Éditions Loubatières Achevé d’imprimer GN Impressions en juin 2015 sur les presses d’Ulzama Imprimerie (Espagne)
Dépôt légal 2e trimestre 2015
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Académie des Jeux floraux
Mairie de Toulouse
Aeroscopia
Marché bio du Capitole
Airbus
Médiathèque André-Cabanis
Basilique Saint-Sernin
Musée Saint-Raymond
Bazacle
Musée des Augustins
Benoît Serres
Musée du Vieux Toulouse
Bibliothèque municipale
Musée Paul-Dupuy
Calendretas
Musée Georges-Labit
Candiflor
Musée des Abattoirs
Cave poésie
Muséum
Cinémathèque
Ostal d’Occitania
Cité de l’espace
Parfums Berdoues
Conservatoire de Toulouse
Piano aux Jacobins
Ecole des Beaux-Arts
Stade toulousain
Fondation Bemberg
Tech 1 Racing
Forêt de Bouconne
Terre de pastel
Galerie du Château d’Eau
Théâtre du Capitole
Graine de pastel
Théâtre national de Toulouse
Halle aux grains
Toulouse Football Club
Hôtel du Grand-Balcon
Toulouse les Orgues
Hôtel-Dieu
Université Toulouse I Capitole
La Grainerie
Université Toulouse II Jean-Jaurès
Le Lido
Université Toulouse III Paul-Sabatier
TOULOUSE today
Toulouse’s history goes back more than two thousand years to the arrival of Celts from the north. In the last twenty years, the city’s rich heritage has been joined by
English version by Roger Depledge
new developments and landscaping, cultural centres and meeting places. This book invites you to discover Toulouse today, a historic city and contemporary metropolis.
ISBN 978-2-86266-731-7
19,90 € 9 782862 667317
www.loubatieres.fr
written by Anne Le Stang Jean-Loup Marfaing Jean Ramière Sébastien Vaissière