Toulouse

Toulouse, city in southern France, capital of Haute-Garonne Department, on the Garonne River and the Canal du Midi. It is a major commercial, transport, and manufacturing centre. Population 435,000 (2005 estimate).

Toulouse is noted for the production of aircraft and aerospace equipment. Other products include chemicals, clothing, electrical machinery, and farm implements.

Historic landmarks in Toulouse include the large Romanesque basilica of St Sernin (begun 11th century), which contains the tomb of St Thomas Aquinas; the Gothic cathedral of Saint-Étienne (begun 12th century); and the church of Notre Dame la Blanche (restored in the 16th century). The city also contains many mansions in the Renaissance style, including the Hôtel Felzins, the Maison de Pierre, and the Hôtel d'Assézat et de Clémence-Isaure. The latter serves as the seat of the Académie des Jeux Floraux, a literary society established in 1323 that holds an annual poetry contest with prizes of flowers made from gold and silver. Also of note are the imposing Capitole (18th century), formerly the city hall; the universities of Toulouse I, II, and III (1229, reorganized 1970), as well as a Roman Catholic institute (1877) and a polytechnic institute (1970); a museum of fine arts, housed in a former Augustinian convent (14th century); and an observatory (1733).

As the Gallic city of Tolosa, the community was important long before the Roman conquest of Gaul. It became an episcopal see in the 4th century (raised to an archepiscopal see in the early 14th century) and was the capital of the Visigoths from 419 to 508, when it was captured by Clovis I, king of the Franks. It served as the seat of the Carolingian kingdom of Aquitaine from 781 to 843, when the separate county of Toulouse was established. The counts subsequently gained control of most of the vast Languedoc region, and their court was noted for attracting major literary figures, including leading troubadours (poet-musicians). In the early 13th century the city was plundered during the crusade against the Albigenses (members of a religious sect considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church). In 1271 Toulouse passed to the French Crown, but it retained considerable autonomy until the Revolution in 1789. During the Reformation many Protestants lived in Toulouse. The city joined the Roman Catholic cause during the Wars of Religion (late 16th century), however, and in 1562 some 4,000 Prostestant Huguenots of the city were killed. During the Napoleonic Wars, Toulouse was captured in 1814 by the British under the Duke of Wellington. The city's main industrial growth dates from the mid-19th century. During World War II, it was occupied by the Germans from 1942 to 1944. The post-war period has been a time of expansion and development, especially under Mayor Gaston Defene, whose administration started in 1953 and ended with his death in 1986.

In September 2001 tragedy struck the city when an explosion at a chemical fertilizer plant in the suburbs killed at least 29 people and injured hundreds more, many seriously. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, as well as many public buildings and dozens of schools. The cause of the blast was not known; although it was widely regarded as an accident, terrorism was not ruled out.