Toulouse

Known as the "red city" because of its numerous brick buildings, it is rich in art and architecture, and is also the center of the French aircraft and space industry.

Around 200 BC the Volcae Tectosages, a Celtic people driven from their homeland in southeastern Germany, established a settlement here. This was succeeded by the Roman fortified town of Tolosa, on the road from Narbonne to Bordeaux. The town was Christianized by St Saturninus in the third century. After the end of the Roman period Toulouse was from 419 to 506 capital of the Visigothic kingdom, and later became the principal place in Aquitaine. From 845 to 1249 it was ruled by the Counts of Toulouse. Under the treaty of Paris in 1229 Toulouse passed to the French crown along with the rest of Languedoc. The University was founded by Pope Gregory IX in 1230, after the Albigensian wars. The Académie des Jeux Floraux was founded by Louis XIV.