Toulouse-Lautrec's Albi
Prominent in Albi is the Cathédrale Sainte Cécile, constructed with red bricks. Hence, the nickname "Albi La Rouge". The city lent its name to the bloody Albigensian Crusade, when the catholics wiped out Cathars in the area. The building of the cathedral was financed by the proceeds of the Inquisition. It took almost a century to complete the 30 meter wide nave ans 78 meter high tower. Since then they have dominated the city.
Next to the cathedral the matching brick-built Palace de la Berbie, the massive fortified bishops palace, houses the Toulouse-Lautrec museum. The lame illustrator was a friend of Vincent van Gogh, who influenced him with his impressionistic style. Seduced by the subversive Parisian nughtclubs, he began to make illustrations which made him worldfamous.
Albi's old town is a chaotic jumble of narrow streets spreading east and south of the cathedral-palace complex.
