Sights in Albi
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Cathédrale Ste-Cécile
Right at the heart of Albi is the mighty Cathédrale Ste-Cécile, which was begun in 1282 but took well over a century to complete. Attractive isn't the word – what strikes you most is its sheer mass rising over town like some Tolkienesque tower rather than a place of Christian worship.
Step inside and the contrast with that brutal exterior is astonishing. No surface was left untouched by the Italian artists who, in the early 16th century, painted their way, chapel by chapel, the length of its vast nave. An intricately carved, lacy rood screen, many of its statues smashed in the Revolution, spans the sanctuary. The stained-glass windows in the apse and choir date from…
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B
Musée Toulouse-Lautrec
Lodged inside another of Albi's impressive red-brick landmarks, the Palais de la Berbie (built in the early Middle Ages for the town's archbishop), this wonderful museum offers a comprehensive overview of the life and career of Albi's most celebrated son. The museum owns over 500 original works by Toulouse-Lautrec (the largest collection in France outside the Musée d'Orsay), spanning the artist's development from his early impressionist influences en route to his celebrated poster art and Parisian brothel scenes.
Pride of place goes to two versions of the Au Salon de la rue des Moulins, hung side-by-side to illustrate the artist's subtly different technique. Elsewhere…
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C
La Maison de Lapérouse
La Maison de Lapérouse is where the Albi-born explorer lived before sailing around the Pacific in 1785; guided visits can be arranged for groups via the tourist office.
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Maison Natale de Toulouse-Lautrec
A short stroll away from the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec is the privately owned Maison Natale de Toulouse-Lautrec where the artist Toulouse-Lautrec was born.
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Grand Chœur
On no account miss the Grand Chœur at the Cathédrale Ste-Cécile with its frescoes, chapels and 30 biblical polychrome figures, finely carved in stone.
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Maison du Vieil Alby
Maison du Vieil Alby houses a small exhibition on the city’s history and its connections with Toulouse-Lautrec.
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Gardens
The attractive ornamental palace courtyard and gardens of the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec are also well worth a wander.
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Old Town
Vieil Alby is an attractive muddle of winding streets and half-timbered houses, one of which, the Maison du Vieil Albyhouses a small exhibition on the city's history and its connections with Toulouse-Lautrec.
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