Paris1972-Versailles2003

And no great city is without its great river ,and Toulouse has a dandy in the Garonne river. Part of the Canal du Midi and traversing the city link to left and right banks by wonderful bridges. I have passed some by car and of course on foot and here are some of them. Hope you enjoy it

The Pont Saint-Pierre bridge passes over the Garonne river and connects the Place Saint-Pierre to the hospice de la Grave. It is a bridge with a metallic deck, entirely rebuilt in 1987. The Pont Saint-Pierre is located downstream from the Pont Neuf and upstream from the Pont des Catalans. The first Pont Saint-Pierre was built between 1849 and 1852. It was a wooden toll bridge where pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages passed. It rested on two piles of stone and bricks, and was reinforced by metal cables. Very damaged, the Saint-Pierre bridge was entrusted to the city in 1904, which removed the toll at the same time as it prohibited the passage of cars!!!. When the municipality decided to rebuild the deck, in 1927, it opted for a suspension bridge, with a metal frame, considered more aesthetic. in 1984, and three years later a new bridge was built, 240 meters long. The lampposts of the old suspension bridge have been reused on the Pont des Catalans.

The Pont-Neuf spans the Garonne river , and links the Place du Pont-Neuf to the Rue de la République . Despite its name, it is the oldest bridge in the city still standing which spans the Garonne. The bridge is still used by vehicles and pedestrians. The first stone is laid on January 8, 1544 Interrupted in 1560 by the wars of religion, the works were completed in 1632. The bridge was inaugurated by King Louis XIV in person, on October 19, 1659. It has seven irregular arches, bridge piers opened by six disguisers or gills and ridges in front of each stack. The flooding was so strong that it reached the top of the arches, but the building held up. Its piers were still reinforced between 1937 and 1948. The bridge is anchored on blocks of granite buried in the bed of the Garonne. It is located downstream from Pont Saint-Michel and upstream from Pont Saint-Pierre. Its path is part of the straight alignment of the street starting at Place Dupuy, passing through the metro Esquirol, the metro Saint-Cyprien, and metro Patte-d’Oie , to be extended by the Lardenne / Lombez avenues.

The Pont des Catalans is another bridge crossing the Garonne river . It is a bridge in arch and stone and reinforced concrete inaugurated in 1908. This bridge was initially called the bridge of the Amidonniers, of the name of the district which it connects. It is a road bridge consisting of a two-lane carriageway surrounded on both sides by a sidewalk and a cycle path. It measures 257 m long and 22 m wide. support a 22 m wide deck, in reinforced concrete, on two masonry vaults which together make a width of 6.50 m.

And there are other bridges such as!

The Pont Saint-Michel is the bridge which links the Paul Feuga alleys to the place du fer à cheval or horseshoe square was built in 1836 but was washed away by the great flood of 1875. Rebuilt 10 years later in metal, it was replaced in 1954 by a concrete structure. Today it is the busiest bridge in the Pink City.

The Pont Jumeaux built in 1770, this bridge marks the meeting point between the waters coming from the Mediterranean, by the Canal du Midi, those of the Garonne, by the Brienne Canal and ensures the junction with the Atlantic Ocean, via the Canal Lateral.

The Pont des Demoiselles built in 1971, it succeeded the Montaudran bridge, dating from 1683. The name of the current bridge could be explained by the fact that at that time, the district was very swampy, and saw abundant dragonflies, called damsels.

A general transport site on the city of Toulouse: City of Toulouse on public transports

You will do well to walk these bridges or drive on them as we do, its awesome. Enjoy the bridges of Toulouse and the super Garonne river.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

So i continue on the off the beaten path of Toulouse; well not so very well known but is not visited so kind of and we love to walk by it each visit to the pink city. Therefore, let me tell you a bit on the Dome of the Saint Joseph de la Grave Chapel and the hospital.

The hospital of La Grave is located in the Saint-Cyprien district in Toulouse, that is to say on the left bank of the city. On almost six hectares , La Grave was the second major hospital and the main maternity hospital in Toulouse during much of the 20C before the CHU de Rangueil was created. . Its name comes from the strike where it was built along the Garonne river . The hospital served during the Middle Ages to populations suffering from the plague then from 1647, as a place of great confinement of beggars, prostitutes and insane. It is cited for the first time in a charter of Raymond IV in 1197. It was built near from the Sainte-Marie de la Daurade hospital near the Garonne in the Saint-Cyprien district. Sainte-Marie de la Daurade hospital has now completely disappeared

It became hospital Saint-Sébastien in the 14C, it is then reserved for the isolation of plague victims. In the 17C, it took the name of Hôpital Général Saint-Joseph de La Grave and became the site of the great enclosure of beggars, prostitutes and destitute, as can still be seen today in the large square courtyards of the 17C and 18C.

In 1789, the city of Toulouse took over control from the hospital. In 1793, La Grave was renamed the Hospice de Bienfaisance In 1797, the Grave hospital annexed neighboring military premises which came from the former Clarisses convent of Saint-Cyprien. It becomes the largest hospital in the city with an area of 6 hectares

The Grave hospital is also known for its famous Saint-Joseph de la Grave Chapel. It is one of the most famous monuments of Toulouse because easily identifiable from the quays of the Garonne river. The first stone of the Chapel of the Grave is laid in 1758 but work is often interrupted and is not completed until 1845. Its foundations have been replaced by concrete and the dome has the distinction of being made of wood, covered with copper because with its brick finish and its metal cover, the dome weighed more than eight tons. The Saint-Joseph Chapel in La Grave can only be visited during the Heritage Days unfortunately.

Some webpage for guidance as always from me

Tourist office of Toulouse on the Chapel St Joseph de la Grave

On the site of the Hospital today there is a historical mention of La Grave in French here: CHU Hospital ot Toulouse on La Grave

There is a renovation work going on today that eventually will change all around here.  The site will experience a new life by transforming into a cultural space at the heart of a new walk on the banks of the Garonne river. All this on the  axis  Abattoirs – Raymond VI Garden – Dome of La Grave and its garden – Port Viguerie within the framework of the development of the Garonne quays led by the City of Toulouse. So stay tune…

Enjoy the walks now to have a feeling of the old before all is change… And remember ,happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

So here I am after several trips there and last week in my lovely Toulouse and realise not written a post on the Capitole of Toulouse! wow, well is time to remedy that. Here is my take on them. Enjoy it

First  , a bit on the location, the square.

The Place du Capitole is a square in the historic center of Toulouse. It measures 12,000 m2 and contains no construction other than the Occitan cross on the ground. The capitouls decided in 1676 to create a Place Royale; in order to circumvent the Parliament of Toulouse which is opposed to the project, they include in the plan of the square a statue of king Louis XIV, which gives his agreement. Administrative difficulties delay the project, whose plan for the square was not drawn up until 1730, fifteen years after the death of Louis XIV, which no doubt explains why the statue never was done; following the renovation of the Capitol facade in 1739, it was decided to enlarge the square ; work only started in 1750. The current square was not completely built until 1792.

And the building of the Capitole

The Capitole is THE monument of the city of Toulouse, which now houses the City/Town Hall and the Capitole theater. The history of this building begins in 1190 when the Toulouse consuls (capitouls) are looking for a building to house the common house. Their ambition is to build an administrative city surrounded by ramparts in the 13C. But it was not until the 17C that the palace we know today was built by the capitouls. The name of this common house is initially Capitulum (Chapter), Capitoul in Occitan: the house of the capitouls, who voted by headcount, like the ecclesiastical chapters. The eight columns of the Caunes-Minervois marble facade symbolize the first eight capitouls. At that time, Toulouse was divided into eight districts: the capitoulats, each managed by a capitoul.

Old buildings around it are: .Facade of the Capitole,Cour Henri-IV ; Poids Commun and the Bouille ; Great Consistory; Chapel of the Consistories ; Octagon hall ; Logis of the shield ; Dungeon of the Capitol;. Tour de la Vis ; Charlemagne tower ; Men’s prison;. Arsenal; poids de l’huile , and the Petit Versailles. Places like the Arsenal are no longer visible.

The building consists of two floors, three fronts crowned with pediments and an entablature supporting an attic. Eight marble columns were placed on the central front to symbolize the eight capitoulats or districts of old Toulouse. The facade is pierced with forty-one windows decorated with wrought iron balconies. Each balcony is decorated with escutcheons: two (the sixth and sixteenth balconies) have the colored escutcheons of the arms of the city, the others represent the arms of the capitouls in exercise at the time of construction. But in 1760, when the badges were applied, the capitouls were no longer the same and refused to lay down the arms of their predecessors. The coats of arms were placed in the attic of the Capitol and replaced by those of the capitols in place. For several years, each time the capitouls were changed, the coats of arms suffered the same fate until 1770. In 1793, the revolutionaries tore off the coats of arms but forgot those hidden in the attic. They were found in 1827 to put them back on the balconies. In 1988, they were replaced by copies because of their state of degradation.

Some of the interior ,briefly are: The original escalier d’honneur or staircase built in 1674 and rebuilt in 1886. At the entrance a monumental bust of Jean Jaurès. Salle Gervais, this room is named after the painter Paul J. Gervais who decorated the room with allegories of Love. The salle Martin, this room served as a wedding hall. It is decorated with ten large canvases by Henri Martin . The Salle des Illustres or room of the illustrious located along the facade of the Capitole. The current gallery replaces the old room of the Illustrious built in 1674 and destroyed in 1887 It now serves as a reception room for distinguished guests of the city of Toulouse and for the bride and groom . The Salle du Conseil municipal (municipal council room) It is decorated with paintings by Paul J. Gervais representing monuments of the city and its region and country scenes.

The impressive donjon or dungeon has it that after 60 years of work on the ruins of the great Capitol fire, the capitouls decided, in 1525, to build the Donjon, also called the Tour des Consistoires in order to protect the archives and gunpowder in anticipation of an invasion of Languedoc by the Spanish during the war between François Ier and Carlos V. The keep is restored by Viollet-le-Duc between 1873 and 1887 because it threatened to collapse. The three bells that can be heard ringing the quarter, are located behind the pediment of the facade of the City/Town Hall. It is now under renovation and the tourist office is just across in the large building well mark.

The tourist office of Toulouse on the Capitole building: Tourist office of Toulouse on the Capitole

Worth mention the separate webpage for the theater: Official Theatre du Capitole

And the one on the donjon on the tourist office: Tourist office of Toulouse on the donjon

Hope you enjoy as we do, a great area to hang around as well in town. As said, the Capitole is a must if coming here ,and coming you must. Toulouse is it

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!