History History

It all began thousands of years ago, as early as the Acheulean period. The human presence is attested by numerous stations on the terraces of the Garonne and the Tarn. But the great era for the Midi-toulousain is the Paleolithic. In particular in the Pyrenean foothills where groups of hunter-gatherers expressed themselves in spectacularly decorated caves. We speak then of the Art of the caves. The department of Ariège alone has 13 of them, including Niaux, the Tuc d'Audoubert or Bédeilhac, the Haute-Garonne has 3, including Marsoulas, and the Hautes-Pyrénées has 4, including Gargas, which is known for its "negative hands" dating back 25,000 years. Some caves are open to visitors (under certain conditions) but to learn more about our ancestors the Sapiens, nothing beats a little tour of the Prehistoric Park of Tarascon-sur-Ariège.

If these paintings fascinate, one should not neglect the furniture: ornate everyday objects or sculptures modeled or carved, made during this same ice age by the Magdalenians. Female statuettes called Venus were produced in large quantities, among the most famous: the Venus of Lespugue (Haute-Garonne); but also bone washers or propellers such as the very touching Fawn with birds of Mas d'Azil (Ariège). Also to be discovered at the small but very educational museum of Aurignac (Haute-Garonne).

Protohistory is marked by population movements. The lands bordered by the Rhone, the Cevennes and the Pyrenees saw the arrival of a Celtic people: the Volcans. Among them, the Tectosages chose to settle in the middle valley of the Garonne where they founded their capital, Tolosa, located in the heart of the "Gallic isthmus" and trade. As for the Rutens, they invested the Albigensian region. They rubbed shoulders with the Aquitanian peoples - Elusates, Lactorates, Convènes... (Gers and Comminges today). The wine trade was already flourishing there, as shown by the numerous amphorae found in Vieille-Toulouse.

During these centuries, many flourishing Gallo-Roman cities came into being: Elimberris (Auch), Lugdunum Convenarum (St-Bertrand-de-Comminges), Elusa (Éauze) surrounded by large agricultural estates whose archaeology has revealed their splendor and modernity (Séviac, Montmaurin). Decorated with mosaics, having luxurious thermal baths and exotic gardens, it is in the St-Raymond museum of Toulouse that this rich archaeological past is discovered, in particular for the vestiges of the villa of Chiragan

During this time, Tolosa never stopped developing. Strategic, it chose neutrality during the Gallic War; consequently, it became one of the most powerful cities of the Roman era. The surrounding industry attests to its attractive power: large pottery workshops were installed in Montans. Metals (copper, lead, silver, iron...) and marble are exploited in the Black Mountain, the Baronnies and the region of St-Béat. Not to mention the taste for thermalism which benefits from the wealth of natural springs throughout the territory.

At the same time, a new religion was not long in spreading: Christianity, with its procession of martyrs, including St-Sernin, the first bishop of Toulouse (in 250). From then on, the first Christian basilicas were built on the site of pagan sites.

Cleverly, the Visigoths obtained the southwest of Gaul which became their kingdom, straddling Spain as it stretched from the Loire to Gibraltar. They adopted Roman institutions but had their own religion, Arianism. Considered a heresy, its struggle led Clovis to federate the Franks and to settle in his turn, victorious, on these prosperous lands (507). The Visigoths retreat to Hispania. The Vascons, of Basque origin, settled in Gascony.

They were born from the old Carolingian empire which left local power to counts of hereditary lineage. Counties, viscounties, ecclesiastical lordships (Foix, Carcassonne) evolve in the bosom of the powerful family of the Counts of Toulouse, at the head of Languedoc, a territory which covers the south of France, from Agen to the Durance. The latter extended their power and the number of their subjects by founding castelnaux or "sauvetés" around which new agglomerations were concentrated, developing fruitful markets and farms. Pilgrimages were organized and structured. The order of Citeaux was established (Abbey of Flaran, Escaladieu, Boulbonne...). On the roads to Compostela, abbeys and convents were adorned with frescoes and Romanesque sculptures (Moissac, St-Sernin de Toulouse...) while the lyrical poetry of the troubadours charmed the courts. Three routes - the Arles route, the Puy-en-Velay route and the Pyrenean Piedmont route - cross the Midi-Toulousain region. Their cultural and natural wealth has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1998.

Around the year 1000, a religion coming from Bulgaria caused a lot of trouble to the Roman Church. Catharism and its dualistic point of view, opposing spirit and matter, advocating poverty and purity, seduced more and more people, even in high places, at the court of the Counts of Toulouse and the Viscount of Carcassonne. The Good Men and Good Women preached the true Church of Christ and the Apostles, their religious houses multiplied, protected by the aristocracy: in Foix, the countesses converted. Temporal and spiritual powers decided to join forces to eradicate it: Pope Innocent III launched the crusade against the Albigensians (another name given to the Cathars) in 1208, led by Simon de Montfort until 1218 (the year of his death) and then by the kings of France.

In addition to the military operations, the mendicant orders (Dominicans and Franciscans in 1215), the university (1229) and the tribunal of the Inquisition (1233) were created to fight against this independent and well established church. The Southern Gothic style responds to the needs of preaching and gives birth to real architectural jewels: the Jacobin convent in Toulouse, the cathedral of Ste-Cécile in Albi, St-Maurice in Mirepoix, the cathedral of Rieux-Volvestre.

Castrum of resistance and rebellion, Montségur saw the dispossessed chivalry of its lands, the faydits, withdraw to its pog. Its surrender, followed by the great pyre of March 16, 1244 at the prats dels crémats, marked the end of the Cathar church in Occitania.

The defeat of Count Raymond VII by the royal troops resulted in the attachment of Languedoc to the crown in 1271: loss of independence but language and customs were maintained. The county of Toulouse and Carcassonne became senechaussées of the crown, only the county of Foix still resisted, offering a place of protection to the last Cathars.

Meeting of the first Estates General of Languedoc, which became annual and voted on taxes. During the troubles of the Hundred Years' War, the province remained the guarantor of the kingdom's cohesion: on the Aquitaine side, it contained English expansion; on the Rhone side, the pressures of the Germanic Empire

Loyalty to the crown was rewarded by the dauphin who became king, Charles VIII, who established the second Parliament of France in Toulouse.

Isatis tinctoria: this pretty name is that of a dye plant cultivated in the Lauraguais, between Toulouse, Albi and Carcassonne. Otherwise known as woad, it made the fortune of the woad merchants who exported their shells all over Europe via Bordeaux, Bayonne and Orthez. Thanks to their success, they acquired a title of nobility, a seigniory in the countryside and built sumptuous private mansions in the Renaissance style (Hôtel d'Assézat in Toulouse, Reynès in Albi). The land of Cocagne is here. Unfortunately, the massive arrival of indigo, the Antwerp stock market crashes and the Wars of Religion put an end to this prosperity.

Receptive to the Reformation, the Midi saw the Calvinist church take root in Castres, Montauban or Pamiers, cities administered by reformed consuls. The expulsion of the Protestant capituls in Toulouse was the signal for a new war that would devastate the entire region over the next forty years. Even if Henri IV tried to restore peace, Louis XIII and Louis XIV wanted to break the Huguenots. Persecutions and revolts marked the arrival of Absolutism in politics and the Counter-Reformation in religion. New religious communities and brotherhoods of lay penitents were established in the heart of the cities. Montauban is the rebel city, it opposes the king's troops and makes the 400 blows... of cannon!

The Royal Canal of Languedoc, renamed Canal du Midi during the Revolution, was created in 1667. The idea was not new because Augustus, Charlemagne, François I and Henri IV had already thought of it. But it was not until the determination of Pierre-Paul Riquet, collector of the gabelles, that the Sun King was convinced to invest in this project. This was a great opportunity to deprive Spain of the revenues linked to the transit of goods! Fifteen years later, the canal was officially opened to navigation. The 328 engineering structures, listed by UNESCO since 1996, include 63 locks, 126 bridges, 55 aqueducts, 7 canal bridges, 6 dams, a watering place and a tunnel. You can visit the gullies, the reservoirs including the lake of St-Ferréol, the lock-houses (Montgiscard), the ports (St-Sauveur in Toulouse). Completed by the Garonne canal (1838-1856) turned towards Bordeaux, it then became the Entre-deux-mers canal! To your barges!

After having suffered from famine and plague, the Midi-toulousain saw an era of prosperity. It benefits from the enlightened commitment of the Intendants of the Age of Enlightenment! They played a considerable role in the development of the road network and in the embellishment of the cities - courtyards, alleys, gardens, squares... such as d'Étigny in Auch. In the countryside, the cultivation of corn spreads, cereal crops make the plains of Gascony and Lauragais a real "wheat machine". At the same time, industrial activities multiplied: coal extraction in Carmaux, forges and glass in Ariège, cloth in Albi, Castres and Montauban, combed fabric in Lavelanet, hides in Graulhet, wool in Mazamet... Many of these industries remained active until the post-war period.

In Toulouse, the Calas affair defended by Voltaire attests to the religious hatred still very strong between Catholics and Protestants on the eve of the French Revolution!

The region experienced a strong exodus: free trade dealt a fatal blow to cereal farming, and new means of transport (railroads) exposed regional production to national and European competition. The region lost a quarter of its population in one hundred years (1851-1954) and missed the Industrial Revolution. Only Toulouse was an exception: from 45,000 inhabitants in 1715, it had 100,000 in 1854 and 150,000 in 1914. Under the Second Empire, the accounts of travelers such as Taine launched Pyreneanism, intoxication of the summits, and thermalism to which was added the pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Clément Ader, from Muretteuil, created a flying machine that would be talked about for a long time: the airplane.

Under the impetus of the State, during the two great world conflicts, industry managed to establish itself widely with the chemical industry as its flagship, but especially the aeronautical industry (in Toulouse, Ossun, Figeac...), the electrochemical industry and the electrometallurgy industry in the Pyrenean valleys. Far from the battlefields, the region emerged from a previously disabling isolation that had become a real asset. The nationalizations of the Popular Front strengthened this regional industry: Dewoitine set up in Toulouse, Alstom in Tarbes. Moreover, gathered around Georges Latécoère, Guillaumin, Mermoz, St-Ex and many other aviators marked the beginning of the epic of the Aéropostale. To learn more, a visit to L'envol des Pionniers (Toulouse Montaudran) is a must

The Spanish Civil War pushed thousands of refugees (about 500,000) to leave their country. This massive exodus through the Pyrenean passes was called "la retirada". Considered undesirable by the French state, they were interned in concentration camps (Septfonds, Portet-sur-Garonne, Vernet-d'Ariège...). Franco's victory turned Toulouse into the capital of Republican exile. These republicans participated in the Resistance and in the Liberation battles in Toulouse, in Ariège and in the Hautes-Pyrénées. Their integration strongly impregnated the regional culture with Hispanic atmospheres: flamenco, bullfights, bodegas, Casa Cervantes, Cinespana film festival... and reinforced the exchanges on both sides of the border

Influx of repatriates from North Africa, industrial success, choice of Toulouse as a metropolis of balance, development of large university hospitals (Rangueil, Purpan). The region attracted people for its quality of life. Mythical airplanes were born here: Caravelle (1955), Concorde (1969). A European program was launched between France and Germany: Airbus set up its headquarters and assembly plants in Toulouse. The A380, the world's largest airliner, was inaugurated in 2005. Climb aboard these historic aircraft at Aéroscopia.

But not everything is rosy in the pink city: explosion of AZF. The poor management of urban development caused considerable damage

The region was the 6th national region for international tourism. It launches the campaign of the Great Sites of Midi-Pyrenees