L'Union (; ) is a commune in the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

department in southwestern France. It is a suburb of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, located just to the northeast of the city.

History

L'Union was founded in the 1790s after the fusion of ''Belbèze'' and ''Cornaudric''. After leaving Spain,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's troops, under the command of Field Marshal and

Marshal of the Empire Marshal of the Empire () was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was established by on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent reinstated the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. According to the ''Sénatus-consulte'', a Mar ...

Soult Marshal General of France, Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as P ...

, battled there against troops under the command of the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. The name ''Saint-Jean-de-l'Union'' is still spoken of, recalling the time when the communes of Saint-Jean et L'Union were unified.

Population

Education

L'Union has three nursery and primary schools (Belbèze-lès-Toulouse, Borde d'Olivier and Montizalguier), and one high school (

collège In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Georges Chaumeton, named after the former mayor).

Sights

L'Union features an

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

celebrating the new millennium,Photos de l'olivier millénaire
at the Town Hall. The Grand Hall of L'Union regularly welcomes artists. Its church features architecture of the nineteenth century.

Sport

L'Union has a sport club, established in 1957, called th
ASU
with more than 5000 members and 300 organisers, and 26 different sports such as

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, rugby and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. The main park of L'Union is Parc de Malpagat, on the D888 road.

Sights

L'Union - Eglise extérieur.jpg, Church. L'Union L'églie- Interieur.jpg, L'Union - olivier millénaire.jpg, The millennium olive tree. L'Union - Monument aux morts.jpg, The war memorial.

Transport

The D888 (Route d'Albi) road runs through the town in a south-west direction towards Toulouse and north-east to

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

, roughly 75 kilometres away. The A68 motorway (Toulouse-Albi) and the ''Périphérique'' bypass the south of L'Union, served by Junctions 1 and 14 respectively. In a clockwise order, L'Union is bordered by

, Launaguet,

Saint-Geniès-Bellevue Saint-Geniès-Bellevue (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southeast France. Population The inhabitants of the commune are called ''Saint-Geniessois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Haute-Garonne department The foll ...

, Saint-Jean, Montrabé and

Balma Balma (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in southwestern France. It is east of Toulouse. The name of the town comes from the old Provençal dialect, Provençal word meaning "cave" or "gr ...

References

Communes of Haute-Garonne {{Toulouse-geo-stub