Toulouse

Toulouse was founded by the Volques Tectosages in the 3rd century b.c. A Roman colony and then capital of the Visigoth kingdom, it became the capital of the Counts of Toulouse in the 11th century, rivalling Venice and Rome. Compostela pilgrims prayed to Saint-Sernin; but the city, with its renowned Cathar sympathies, suffered during the Albigensian Crusade and was annexed to the Kingdom of France in 1271. This Palladian town, the ville rose, experienced times of misfortune but also of great prosperity which enabled it to acquire an exceptional architectural heritage on the banks of its mighty river, the Garonne.