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Toulouse
Also known as Tolosa, Toulouse, France, Toulouse, Occitania, Pink City
Toulouse (, , ; ) is a city in Southern France, the prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Paris. It is the fourth-largest city in France after Paris, Marseille, and Lyon, with 514,819 inhabitants within its municipal boundaries (2023); its metropolitan area has a population of 1,513,396 inhabitants (2022). Toulouse is the central city of one of the 22 metropolitan councils of France. Between the 2014 and 2020 censuses, its metropolitan area was the third
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Toulouse is a city in Southern France situated on the River Garonne, serving as the prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and the Occitania region. It is France's fourth-largest city by population and an important metropolitan center, with over 514,000 residents within the city and approximately 1.5 million in its surrounding metropolitan area.
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Place details
- Locality
- Toulouse
- Region
- Occitanie
- Country
- France
- Population
- 511,684
- Timezone
Travel guide
Understand
thumb | 300px | The part-Gothic cathedral The city was a Roman settlement, "Tolosa", and the smaller inner streets still follow the ancient layout. After Rome fell, it became capital of a Visigoth kingdom, but the region was roiled by secular, dynastic and religious wars, such as those against the Cathar heretics. The Dominican Order was founded in the city in 1216 to win back the Cathars to orthodoxy by peaceful preaching, but when that didn't work the Pope launched a crusade and massacre. Toulouse and its realm thereby lost independence and in 1271 were annexed to the Kingdom of France.
In the fourteenth century, Toulouse was devastated by pogroms, the Black Death, famine, and war. In the fifteenth century, it became wealthy from its monopoly on "pastel," a blue pigment extracted from woad plants, only to slump again when the monopoly was broken by indigo imports from India. It suffered several fires, the worst in 1463, so it was re-built in brick rather than wood. An 18th-century boom led to a spate of construction in pink terracotta brick, giving rise to its nickname La ville rose. The university flourished: founded in 1229, it's one of the oldest in the world, and now has over 100,000 students. Fermat pondered his theorems here in between his legal work. On 10 April 1814, Toulouse saw the last battle of the forces led by Wellington out of Spain against Napoleon – neither side was aware that Napoleon had already surrendered. Marshal Soult held the city for a day then fl…
Get around
thumb | 300px | The Capitole at night Toulouse is a big city, but the historical centre is compact, between the Garonne River and Metro B Line. You can walk to most attractions.
Bus, tram, metro lines and cable car are operated by Tisseo. Tram T1 starts downtown at Palais de Justice, crosses the river west to Arènes interchange, then runs north to Beauzelle and the MEETT – get off in Blagnac for the airport bus. (Tram 2 is axed.) Metro line A runs southwest to northeast, from the University through Arènes and the railway station. Metro line B runs north–south, passing the main railway station and Palais de Justice. There is a suburban train west to Colomiers and Arènes which can be taken with a Tisseo fare. Buses run along all the main streets but don't come into the pedestrianised core of the city, except the free city-centre shuttle (M–Sa) – no bus stops for this one, just wave at the driver.
A single ticket paid on the bus costs €2.50 in Jan 2025. A ticket from a machine or kiosk for any Tisseo transport is €1.80, a book of 10 is €15.40 and a one-day pass is €6.90. Validate your ticket on boarding, and it's good for transfers within one hour (within 90 min to and from the airport.)
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Article
60 sectionsContents
- Geography
- Hydrography
- Climate
- History
- Early history
- Toulouse refounded by the Romans on the banks of the Garonne
- Capital of the Visigothic Kingdom
- Under Frankish rule
- County of Toulouse
- The fight against Catharism and its various aspects
- Kingdom of France
- 19th century
- 20th and 21st centuries
- Population
- Immigration
- Government and politics
- Toulouse Métropole
- Local politics
- Mayors
- Sights and architecture
- Romanesque architecture (11th-12th c.)
- Basilica of Saint-Sernin
- Gothic architecture (13th c.-early 16th c.)
- Southern French Gothic: a militant religious architecture
- Gothic civil architecture
- Renaissance architecture (16th c.-early 17th c.)
- 17th century architecture
- 17th century religious architecture
- 17th century civil architecture
- 18th century architecture
- 19th century architecture
- 20th and 21st centuries architecture
- Banks of the Garonne, Canal du Midi, parks
- Museums and theme parks
- Economy
- Education
- Colleges and universities
- Primary and secondary schools
- Transport
- Train
- Metro
- Tramway
- Cable car
- Bicycle
- Airports
- Canal
- Toulouse public transportation statistics
- Communications
- Culture
- Sport
- Notable people
- International relations
- Twin towns and sister cities
- Other cooperations
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Citations
- Sources
- External links
Toulouse (, , ; ) is a city in Southern France, the prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Paris. It is the fourth-largest city in France after Paris, Marseille, and Lyon, with 514,819 inhabitants within its municipal boundaries (2023); its metropolitan area has a population of 1,513,396 inhabitants (2022). Toulouse is the central city of one of the 22 metropolitan councils of France. Between the 2014 and 2020 censuses, its metropolitan area was the third fastest growing among metropolitan areas larger than 500,000 inhabitants in France.
Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the SPOT satellite system, ATR and the Aerospace Valley. It hosts the CNES's Toulouse Space Centre (CST) which is the largest national space centre in Europe, but also, on the military side, the newly created NATO space centre of excellence and the French Space Command and Space Academy. Safran, Thales Alenia Space, Airbus Defence and Space, Collins Aerospace and Liebherr-Aerospace also have a significant presence in Toulouse.
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