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Toulouse
KNOWLEDGE OF Toulouse
Toulouse, France’s aeronautics and space exploration capital can today afford to look skywards: its history has given it a solid base from which it can move towards the future with confidence. Nestling at the foot of the Pyrenees that lie between it and Spain, the city known as “la Ville Rose (due to the delicate purplish-pink hues of its buildings) has an immensely rich past, which through the centuries has alternated between periods of prosperity and much gloomier times.
The first inhabitants and Tolosa
The city’s history goes back over 2000 years, starting with the Volques Tectosages, a small Celtic tribe that settled in the Garonne valley in 300 B.C. Because of its strategic position, Toulouse - which provided a link between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic - was already (in 100 B.C.) of great interest to the Romans, who made it one of their colonies in the 2nd century A.D. The colony subsequently prospered from the wine trade and by the 3rd century A.D. it had its first city wall, which reached northwards as far as the Porterie (now Place du Capitole), while its southernmost point was Porte Narbonnaise, which is now Place du Salin and the Place du Parlement. Around this time Christianity was introduced to the city by Saint Saturnin, who later died at the hands of a frenzied heathen mob who tied him to the tail of a bull. Many of the city’s buildings and monuments named in his honour recall his martyrdom: Rue du Taur (from “taureau, meaning “bull), Notre-Dame-du-Taur church, Saint-Sernin basilica and Matabiau station (from matar bios, meaning “to kill the bull.)
The barbarian invasions
From the 5th century A.D., the city was subjected to barbarian invasions: whilst the Vandals were stopped by Gallo-Roman defences, the Visigoths, who came from the area around the Black Sea, made the city their empire’s capital. A century later, the Franks in their turn took possession of the city. Until the 9th century A.D. there followed a period of calm when Toulouse found itself relegated to the rank of simple county town. During the Middle Ages however it became (governed by Raimond II) capital of the County of Toulouse. Ruled by city nobles, Toulouse quickly expanded, due to a large influx of settlers from rural areas. The city then stretched beyond its walls to the north as far as Place Saint-Sernin, to the south as far as the Saint-Michel area of the city and to the west on the left bank of the Garonne. In the 12th century, the nobility lost the city to the Capitouls or city consuls.
The first inhabitants and Tolosa
The city’s history goes back over 2000 years, starting with the Volques Tectosages, a small Celtic tribe that settled in the Garonne valley in 300 B.C. Because of its strategic position, Toulouse - which provided a link between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic - was already (in 100 B.C.) of great interest to the Romans, who made it one of their colonies in the 2nd century A.D. The colony subsequently prospered from the wine trade and by the 3rd century A.D. it had its first city wall, which reached northwards as far as the Porterie (now Place du Capitole), while its southernmost point was Porte Narbonnaise, which is now Place du Salin and the Place du Parlement. Around this time Christianity was introduced to the city by Saint Saturnin, who later died at the hands of a frenzied heathen mob who tied him to the tail of a bull. Many of the city’s buildings and monuments named in his honour recall his martyrdom: Rue du Taur (from “taureau, meaning “bull), Notre-Dame-du-Taur church, Saint-Sernin basilica and Matabiau station (from matar bios, meaning “to kill the bull.)
The barbarian invasions
From the 5th century A.D., the city was subjected to barbarian invasions: whilst the Vandals were stopped by Gallo-Roman defences, the Visigoths, who came from the area around the Black Sea, made the city their empire’s capital. A century later, the Franks in their turn took possession of the city. Until the 9th century A.D. there followed a period of calm when Toulouse found itself relegated to the rank of simple county town. During the Middle Ages however it became (governed by Raimond II) capital of the County of Toulouse. Ruled by city nobles, Toulouse quickly expanded, due to a large influx of settlers from rural areas. The city then stretched beyond its walls to the north as far as Place Saint-Sernin, to the south as far as the Saint-Michel area of the city and to the west on the left bank of the Garonne. In the 12th century, the nobility lost the city to the Capitouls or city consuls.
Chapi