Country Article / Postcards

Albi—historic bricks for heretics

Date: 12/06/2006

The soaring spire of Albi's cathedral must have been even more imposing 700 years ago than it is today. Although we are now so used to highrises that they rarely merit a second glance, the spiritual center of this town in the Tarn, in France's southwest, still stands up proudly against the blue sky.

The 13th-century Sainte Cécile is not one of the most popular cathedrals in France for nothing. The bell tower is more than 255 feet high and its defensive architecture belies a sumptuously decorated interior. Behind the smooth outer walls you can discover a number of treasures, including the forbidding representation of the Last Judgment, with heaven on one side of the aisle, and a grim reminder of what awaited those who didn't fall into line on the other.

Did you know…? A masterpiece of engineering, Sainte Cécile cathedral also holds the record of being the largest brick edifice in Europe.

"Kill them all—
God will know his own."

This reminder would have been all the more vivid considering what had happened earlier in the 13th century. Albi was at the center of the Cathar, or Albigensian, movement, the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. The Cathars opposed the corruption of the Roman church, respected women, and preached tolerance, non-violence, as well as direct prayer without a hierarchy of priests. The Cathars were eventually crushed in a ruthless and bloody repression led by the crusaders. Even Catholics were killed in the frenzied purge that followed, inspiring the Pope's legate Arnaud Amaury, in the sack of nearby Béziers, to declare: 'Kill them all—God will know his own.' All that is left today of this peaceful sect is the name, Albi.

The bad boy of the Art Nouveau world
But whatever your faith, there are other reasons to visit Albi. The bad boy of the Art Nouveau world, the absinthe-loving Toulouse-Lautrec, was born (and died) here, and is remembered with a museum in the old Episcopal palace, the Palais de la Berbie, housing a vast collection of his works. The river Tarn also vies for your attention, with cruises in a traditional flat-bottomed barge or gabarre, and views from the ancient 11th-century bridge, or Pont-Vieux, which witnessed the flourishing river trade until the late 18th century.

What to try… The local wines, the Gaillac, are light, reasonably priced, and dangerously drinkable—make sure you have a driver if you decide to go to the annual Gaillac wine festival in August to try them all, from the discreetly sparkling perlé to the fruity reds. Local specialties to go with the wines include duck stew, real farm chicken dishes, and deliciously light pastry pouches, called croustades, filled with apples.

Attractive prices
Otherwise, simply strolling through the cobbled streets will bring you to medieval and Renaissance quarters, still very much part of the urban fabric today. A pleasant town with many pedestrian areas, Albi is also the administrative capital of the Tarn province, and despite its proximity to the real estate boom in Toulouse, prices here remain attractive.

An 18th-century, eight-bedroom mill house with two lakes, on almost 8 acres of land, can be had for 505,000 euro ($642,000). A light downtown apartment of 420 square feet was spotted for 61,000 euro ($78,000), while a 850-square-foot, three-bedroom town apartment in a well maintained building was on offer for 155,000 euro ($197,000).

And, if you tire of the typical bricks of 'the red town,' as the old quarter is known, the surrounding area—made up of unspoiled farmland and countryside, rolling hills, and clear brooks—is well worth a visit.

P.S. Visit the Albi website, with an English version, at: www.albi-tourisme.com/us