Montauban

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Montauban - Art and History Town and District

Montauban has been a member of the Art and History Town and District network since 1998. It stands guard over the River Tarn in the ancient province of Quercy at the heart of a vast agricultural region in Aquitaine.

Montauban in the Middle Ages : The Comte de Toulouse founded the town of Montauban on a rocky spur overlooking the Tarn in 1144 to strengthen the northern part of his territory. Shielded by fortifications, laid out around a large square and benefiting from an advantageous charter, the town grew rapidly thanks to intense commercial activity.

A Protestant town : Converted to Protestantism in 1561, Montauban asserted itself as one of the main Huguenot strongholds during the Wars of Religion. The future king Henri IV visited the town on several occasions and it became an important cultural centre.

A restructured town : in the 17th and 18th centuries, the town enjoyed great prosperity founded on the textile and milling industries and was transformed under the joint action of bishops and intendants. In 1808 it became the capital of the Tarn-et-Garonne département and modernised itself during the 19th century despite the decline in its industry : railway stations, botanical gardens, barracks and schools became part of the urban landscape. During the two World Wars, the town harboured numerous refugees, notably Spaniards and Italians. After the war, the local economy picked up, fired by the strong growth of the service sector. The rural exodus, baby boom and the massive arrival of people repatriated from Algeria caused a major increase in population and the town gradually spread to the neighbouring countryside. Today Montauban covers 13,500 hectares and has 58,000 inhabitants.

Sightseeing in Montauban

**Place Nationale** : Thi square in the heart of the town where most of the streets of the historic centre meet, is proud to be one of the oldest urban squares in France. An important centre of public life, it was home to the municipal authorities for a very long time. The line of facades punctuated with monumental decorative columns, the systematic use of brickwork and the arcades with ribbed vaulting illustrate a desire for architectural unity.

**Ancien Collège** : The Jesuits arrived in Montauban after the surrender of the town to Richelieu in 1629. In 1676, they acquired a mansion on the north-east edge of the town where they built their new college and chapel.

**Church of Saint-Jacques** : Nothing remains of the first church built in the 12th century, but it was rebuilt in the 13th century by important families from Montauban to atone for their support for the Cathars. It is a fine example of Southern French Gothic architecture.

**Musée Ingres** : During the Hundred Years’ War, the Treaty of Calais (1360) gave Montauban to the English who immediately began to build a fort beside the Tarn as the left bank remained French. When they left in 1369, the fort was unfinished. In 1664, Bishop Pierre de Bertier decided to build his new episcopal palace on the ruins of the old English fort.

Museum Victor Brun : Opened in 1854 in the former palace of the Cour des Aides, the museum has a fine collection of mammals, fish and insects as well as 2,661 stuffed birds including almost all of the European species.

Pont-Vieux : Planned in the town’s foundation charter in 1144, construction of the bridge was finally begun at the beginning of the 14th century with the backing of King Philippe le Bel and completed in 1335.

Théâtre Olympe de Gouges : In the mid-18th century, the Consuls equipped Montauban with a theatre but it was too small and was rebuilt in 1849 in the style of an Italian theatre.

How to get to Montauban

By road :

Autoroute A20 via Paris and Limoges

Autoroute A62 via Bordeaux

By bus : to Montauban

By rail : to Montauban

Discover Tarn-et-Garonne with Gites de France Tarn-et-Garonne : Moissac, Destination Midi Pyrénées"