Albi (; ) is a commune in southern France. It is the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast 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 ...

. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (, ). It is the seat of the Archbishop of Albi. The episcopal city, around the Cathedral Sainte-Cécile, was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

list of

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2010 for its unique architecture. The site includes the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, dedicated to the artist who was born in Albi.

Administration

Albi is the seat of four

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

, covering 16

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, with a total population of 72,416 (2019).

History

The first human settlement in Albi was in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(3000–600 BC). After the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

conquest of

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

in 51 BC, the town became ''Civitas Albigensium'', the territory of the Albigeois, ''Albiga''.

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

digs have not revealed any traces of Roman buildings, which seems to indicate that Albi was a modest Roman settlement. In 584, Gregory of Tours reports that the majority of the townsfolk died from plague. In 1040, Albi expanded and constructed the ''Pont Vieux'' (Old Bridge). New quarters were built, indicative of considerable urban growth. The city grew rich at this time, thanks to trade and commercial exchanges, and also to the tolls charged to travelers for using the Pont Vieux. In 1208, the Pope and the French king joined forces to combat the

Cathars Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

, who had developed their own version of ascetic Christian dualism, and so a heresy considered dangerous by the dominant Catholic Church. Repression was severe, and many Cathars were burnt at the stake throughout the region. The area, until then virtually independent, was reduced to such a condition that it was subsequently annexed by the French Crown. After the upheaval of the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...

against the Cathars, the bishop

Bernard de Castanet Bernard de Castanet (c. 1240 – 14 August 1317) was a French lawyer, judge, diplomat, bishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Castanet was not a Dominican, though he had an excellent relationship with the order of the Preachers and ...

, in the late 13th century, completed work on the Palais de la Berbie, a Bishops' Palace with the look of a fortress. He ordered the building of the cathedral of Sainte-Cécile starting in 1282. The town enjoyed a period of commercial prosperity largely due to the cultivation of ''Isatis Tinctoria'', commonly known as

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, dyer's-weed, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, ''Isati ...

. The fine houses built during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

bear witness to the vast fortunes amassed by the pastel merchants. Albi had a small

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community during

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times, until it was annihilated in the 1320s Shepherds' Crusade. Afterwards,

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

were only allowed to transit the town by payment, without living in it. In 1967, approximately 70

lived in Albi, most of them of North-African origin. Albi has conserved its rich architectural heritage which encapsulates the various brilliant periods of its history. Considerable improvement and restoration work has been done, to embellish the old quarters and to give them a new look, in which brick reigns supreme. The Hôtel de Ville, also built in brick, dates back to at least 1682.

Main sights

Albi was built around the original

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

and episcopal group of buildings. This historic area covers 63 hectares. Red brick and tiles are the main feature of most of the edifices. Along with

and

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, Albi is one of the main cities built in

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

-style red brick. Among the buildings of the town is the Sainte Cécile cathedral, a masterpiece of the

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of Gothic fiction, fiction, Popular music, music, Gothic film, film, theatre, and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic fiction, Gothic elements and the Southern United States, American South. ...

style, built between the 13th and 15th centuries. It is characterised by a strong contrast between its austere, defensive exterior and its sumptuous interior decoration. Built as a statement of the Christian faith after the upheavals of the

Cathar Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

heresy, this gigantic brick structure was embellished over the centuries: the ''Dominique de Florence'' Doorway, the 78 m high bell tower, the Baldaquin over the entrance (1515–1540). The

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

is a filigree work in stone in the

Flamboyant Gothic Flamboyant () is a lavishly-decorated style of Gothic architecture that appeared in France and Spain in the 15th century, and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century and the beginning of the Renaissance.Encyclopedia Britannica, "Flamboyant style ...

style. It is decorated with a magnificent group of polychrome statuary carved by artists from the Burgundian workshops of

Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...

and comprising over 200 statues, which have retained their original colours. Older than the ''

Palais des Papes The ( English: Palace of the Popes; ''lo Palais dei Papas'' in Occitan) in Avignon, Southern France, is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was a seat of We ...

'' in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, the ''Palais de la Berbie'', formerly the Bishops'

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

of Albi, now the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, is one of the oldest and best-preserved

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

in France. This imposing fortress was completed at the end of the 13th century. Its name comes from the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

word ''Bisbia'', meaning Bishops' Palace. The Old Bridge (''Pont Vieux'') is still in use after almost a millennium. Originally built in stone (in 1035), then clad with brick, it rests on eight arches and is 151 m long. In the 14th century, it was fortified and reinforced with a drawbridge, and houses were built on the piers. Albi is a city known for its elite ''Lycée Lapérouse'', a high school with 500 students situated inside an old monastery. It has several advanced literature classes. Furthermore, it is one of the few holding a full-scale music section with special high-tech rooms for this section. The Pacific explorer

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse Commodore (rank), Commodore Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (; 23 August 1741 – ) was a French Navy officer and explorer. Having enlisted in the Navy at the age of 15, he had a successful career and in 1785 was appointed to lea ...

is commemorated in the museum. Toulouse-Lautrec - La Goulue arrivant au Moulin Rouge

Located in an ancient mill (41 rue Porta), the Le LAIT Art Centre is a research laboratory dedicated to contemporary art.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum houses more than 1000 works, including 31 famous posters. This body of work forms the largest public collection in the world devoted to

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

, who was born in Albi in 1864.

World Heritage Site

UNESCO's World Heritage Centre notes the Old Bridge (Pont-Vieux), the Saint-Salvi quarter, the quarter's church, the fortified cathedral (late 13th century) in unique southern French Gothic style from local brick, the bishop's Palais de la Berbie, and residential quarters, which help the Episcopal City of Albi form a "coherent and homogeneous ensemble of monuments and quarters that has remained largely unchanged over the centuries... a complete built ensemble representative of a type of urban development in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day."

Transport

Albi is served by two railway stations on the line from Toulouse to Rodez: * Gare d'Albi-Ville * Gare d'Albi-Madeleine The A68 motorway connects Albi with Toulouse (and Lyon N 88, future motorway).

Sport

SC Albi Sporting Club Albigeois is a professional French rugby union club playing the third-level Nationale. During the past years it went back and forth between Top 14, the highest level of the French league system and the second-level Rugby Pro D2. ...

– The city's

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team competing in the second-level

Rugby Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

. * RC Albi – A

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team that compete in the

Elite One Championship Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions ...

. *

US Albi Union Sportive Albigeoise is a French association football team founded in 1912. They are based in Albi, Midi-Pyrénées, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its ...

– A Union Sports Football Club established in 1912 in Albi playing the Regional 2 Level. * Albi held Stage 13 of the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of Tour de France, the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and ...

. The stage was a individual time trial which started and finished in the city. * Albi was the finish of Stage 10 of the

2019 Tour de France The 2019 Tour de France was the 106th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 race stage, stages, starting in the Belgian capital of Brussels on 6 July, before movi ...

on Mon 15 July. There was a rest day at Albi on the 16th and Albi was the start of stage 11 to Toulouse On Weds 18 July. * Albi was the finish of Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Thursday, 27 July. The winner of the stage was Ricarda Bauernfeind (Germany) of Team Canyon/Sram Racing. Bauernfeind was riding in her Tour debut. *

Circuit d'Albi The Circuit d'Albi is a motorsport race track located in the French town of Le Sequestre near Albi, about northeast of Toulouse. Built to replace the nearby ''Circuit Les Planques'' public road circuit, Albi has 70 years of history in moto ...

, a motor racing circuit used for national racing surrounding Albi's airport.

Education

École des mines d'Albi-Carmaux The École des Mines d'Albi (officially ''École Nationale Supérieure des Mines d'Albi-Carmaux'', also known as ''EMAC'' or ''Mines Albi'', ex-''ENSTIMAC'') was created in 1993. It is a French engineering school (i.e. Grandes écoles) part of ...

* Jean-François Champollion University Center for Teaching and Research

Climate

Albi experiences a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') bordering

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb''). Like much of southwestern France, the summers tend to be warmer and the winters milder than most areas of similar classification. Substantial summer rainfall prevents its climate from being classified as Mediterranean.

Population

Twin towns – sister cities

Albi is twinned with: *

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, Spain *

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, United States *

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

, Australia

Notable people

Antoinette de Saliès Antoinette de Salvan de Saliès (1639 – June 13, 1730, Salies) was a French writer and feminist. Early years Antoinette de Salvan was born in Albi, in 1639; she was baptized November 27, 1639. Her nickname was "the little muse of Albi". She ma ...

(1639–1730), writer, feminist *

(1741–1788), Pacific explorer * Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières (1815–1895), military engineer and general *

(1864–1901), painter, caricaturist, illustrator * Pierre Benoit (1886–1962), novelist, screenwriter *

Isabelle Candelier Isabelle Candelier (born 12 June 1963) is a French film and television actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the tradit ...

(born 1963), actress

Gallery

Albi 1.png, Albi Albi cathedrale.png, Albi cathedral (Albi) Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine vue du premier niveau du Palais épiscopal.jpg, St-Madeleine Church, Albi Albi Sainte-Cécile.JPG, Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile Albi Cathedral Choir (7160566080).jpg, The choir of the cathedral Sainte-cecile albi jugement dernier.JPG, In the cathedral, paintings of the Last Judgement France Albi cloitre Saint Salvy.jpg, Collégiale Saint-Salvi, the oldest church in Albi, dedicated to Saint Salvius Albi - Façade hôtel Reynès.jpg, Hôtel Reynès (Renaissance) (Albi)_Maison_Enjalbert_Albi_XVI°_siècle_MériméePA00095478.jpg, Maison Enjalbert (Renaissance) (Albi) Le Tarn vu du vieux pont vers l'ouest.jpg, Tarn river in Albi (Albi) Palais de la Berbie - Jardin ancienne place d'arme.jpg Albi - Berges du Tarn (1).jpg, Banks of the Tarn river Albi - Berges du Tarn (2).jpg, Banks of the Tarn river (Albi) Palais de la Berbie, depuis le Vieux Pont.jpg (Albi) North views of the Ste Cécile Cathedral.jpg Albi.jpg, Map of Albi, 1914

References

External links

Official website
(in French)
Tourist Office of Albi
– Article from the Catholic Encyclopedia 1908
Albi
(in English)
Detailed description of the Madeleine Church of Albi
{{Authority control Communes of Tarn (department) Prefectures in France World Heritage Sites in France Jewish French history Judaism in France Languedoc Cities in Occitania (administrative region)