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Albi City Guide.




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Fast Facts Genernal Information Sights



Fast Facts
Area
44.26 km²
Population
46,299

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Genernal Information

Albi is a town and commune in southern France. It is the préfecture (capital) of the Tarn département, and is located on the Tarn River, 50 miles northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called Albigensians .


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Sights

Albi was built around the original cathedral and episcopal group of buildings. This historic area covers 63 hectares. Red brick and tiles are the main feature of most of the edifices.
Along with Toulouse and Montauban, Albi is one of the main cities built in Languedoc-style brick .
View of the Cathedral.Among the monuments of the town is the Sainte Cécile cathedral, claimed to be the world's largest brick construction. This monument is a masterpiece of the Southern Gothic style. It is characterized by a strong contrast between its austere, defensive exterior and its sumptuous interior decoration. Built as a statement of the Christian faith after the upheavals of the Cathar heresy , this gigantic brick structure was embellished over the centuries: the Dominique de Florence Doorway, the 78 m high bell tower the Baldaquin over the entrance (1515–1540). The rodscreen is a veritable filigree work in stone in the Flamboyant Gothic style. It is decorated with a magnificent group of polychrome statuary carved by artists from the Burgundian workshops of Cluny and comprising over 200 statues which have retained their original colours.
Older than the Palais des Papes in Avignon, the Palais de la Berbie, formerly the Bishops' Palace of Albi, now the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, is one of the oldest and best-preserved castles in France. This imposing fortress was completed at the end of the 13th century. Its name comes from the Occitan word Bisbia, meaning Bishops' Palace.
The Old Bridge (Pont Vieux) is still in use today after almost a millennium of existence. Originally built in stone (in 1035), then clad with brick, it rests on 8 arches and is 151m long. In the 14th century, it was fortified, reinforced with a drawbridge and houses were built on the piers.
Albi is a well known city for its elite Lycée Lapérouse, a high school with 500 students situated inside an old monastery boasting several literature classes. Furthermore, it is one of the few holding a full scale music section with special high tech rooms for this section.
Albi is the home of the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. More than 1000 works, including the 31 famous posters, are kept within the walls. This body of work forms the largest public collection in the world devoted to Toulouse-Lautrec.


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