Toulouse

Tolosa was a trading place in the Garonne valley from at least the Iron Age and became a Roman outpost in the 2nd century BC; under Augustus the town was moved from its hill fort down to the river. In the 5th century Toulouse served as capital of the Visigothic kingdom until the Franks took it in 507. Charlemagne created the county of Toulouse in 778, and its counts became among the most powerful lords of the south, patrons of troubadours writing in Occitan. In 1152 the citizens won self-government under consuls known as capitouls.

The Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars (1209–1229) broke the counts. Saint Dominic founded his order of preachers here in 1215, the university was created in 1229, and by 1271 the county had passed to the French crown. A parlement, the second in France, followed in 1443. After the great fire of 1463 the capitouls favoured brick over wood, and in the 16th century the trade in pastel, a blue dye made from woad, paid for the Renaissance mansions; around 1550 Toulouse was one of the largest cities in France. In 1762 its parlement condemned the Protestant Jean Calas, prompting Voltaire's Treatise on Tolerance. The Canal du Midi, finished in 1681, linked it to the Mediterranean.

The Revolution stripped the city of its provincial role, and there was little 19th- century industry; a flood in 1875 killed 200 people. World War I brought aviation workshops, and from the 1960s the state built up aeronautics and space here. In 2001 an explosion at the AZF fertiliser plant killed 31 people, and in 2016 Toulouse became capital of the new Occitanie region.

Toulouse is the unofficial capital of Occitan culture. The Consistori del Gay Saber, created in 1323 to keep the troubadours' art alive with a poetry contest, is considered the oldest literary society in Europe and survives as the Académie des Jeux Floraux. The Occitan cross of the old counts became the city flag under mayor Dominique Baudis, and the language appears on bilingual street signs. The nickname La Ville rose comes from the large, flat foraine bricks of the old centre, set off with white stone brought down the Garonne from the Pyrenees.

Music has deep roots. The Théâtre du Capitole stages opera and ballet on a site used for theatre since 1736, the Orchestre National du Capitole plays in the Halle aux Grains, and in 2023 UNESCO named Toulouse a City of Music. Festivals run through the year, from the Grand Fénétra with its folk dancing at the end of June to the Printemps de Septembre contemporary art festival and Piano aux Jacobins in autumn. The violet, cultivated here from the 19th century, has made Toulouse the "cité des violettes".

Rugby comes first in sport. Stade Toulousain has won a record twenty-five French titles and six European ones, Toulouse Olympique plays rugby league in the British system, and Toulouse FC won the Coupe de France in 2023. Immigration from Spain in the 1920s and 1930s, from Algeria in the 1960s and from North Africa since has shaped the city, and Spanish can still be heard in its popular markets.

About 515,000 people lived in the city of Toulouse in 2023 and about 1.5 million in its metropolitan area, one of the fastest-growing in France. With nearly 140,000 students, it is also one of the country's largest university cities.

Aerospace dominates the economy. Airbus has its headquarters here and assembles the A320, A330 and A350; ATR, Safran, Thales Alenia Space and many others are present, and the CNES Toulouse Space Centre is the largest national space centre in Europe.

Growth has brought pressure on housing and transport. The old centre, inside the boulevards, has gentrified, spreading into faubourgs such as Saint-Cyprien, while large post-war estates such as Le Mirail, Empalot and Bagatelle are priority districts with higher poverty. A third metro line is due in 2028 and the airport tram is being rebuilt as an express link. Jean-Luc Moudenc was re-elected mayor for a third consecutive term in March 2026. Daily life runs on markets, terraces and, at weekends, rugby.

Cassoulet is the dish everyone associates with Toulouse, though it originated in Castelnaudary: Elizabeth David described it as "that sumptuous amalgamation of haricot beans, sausage, pork, mutton and preserved goose, aromatically spiced with garlic and herbs". The city's own contribution is the saucisse de Toulouse, a pork sausage seasoned with salt and pepper in a natural casing, usually sold in a coil, which goes into most cassoulets and is also grilled or cooked as a confit. Garbure, a cabbage soup with poultry, and foie gras from the surrounding Midi-Pyrénées complete the local repertoire.

The violet is the city's sweet emblem, turned into candied sweets, liqueurs, syrup and giftware. Les Halles Victor Hugo, the covered market that replaced the market on today's Place Esquirol in 1892, has a big food market on its ground floor and a cluster of restaurants around it, and the Carmes and Saint-Cyprien markets serve their own quarters.

Open-air markets fill Boulevard de Strasbourg on weekday mornings and the streets by the church of Saint-Aubin on Sunday mornings. The areas around the Place du Capitole, Boulevard de Strasbourg and Place Saint-Georges are lined with cafés and restaurants.