Editing Toulouse (section)

==Sights and architecture==
[[File:Foraine brick en.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Format differences between a "foraine" brick and a standard brick]]

Classified "City of Art and History", Toulouse has a very rich architectural heritage ranging from large Romanesque and Gothic churches to neo-classical facades such as that of the Capitole, to the prestigious mansions of the Renaissance. This ancient heritage is mainly enclosed within the 220 hectares of the city's inner boulevard (one of the largest protected urban areas in France).{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Almost all the buildings of the historical centre were made with the traditional building material of the region: the "foraine" brick that has earned the city the nickname of ''Ville rose'' (Pink city). Medieval heir to the [[Roman brick]], the "foraine" brick is characterised by its large dimensions, its flat appearance and its colour ranging from orange/pink to red.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1241184281 |title=A cultural history of color |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4742-7373-2 |editor-last=Wharton |editor-first=David |location=London, UK; New York, NY, USA |oclc=on1241184281 |editor-last2=Biggam |editor-first2=C. P. |editor-last3=Wolf |editor-first3=Kirsten |editor-last4=Buono |editor-first4=Amy |editor-last5=Dupré |editor-first5=Sven |editor-last6=Loske |editor-first6=Alexandra |editor-last7=Steinvall |editor-first7=Anders |editor-last8=Street |editor-first8=Sarah}}</ref>

White stone is also present in smaller quantities. As there were no stone quarries near Toulouse, it was transported from the [[Pyrenees]] via the Garonne river and was for a long time rare and therefore expensive, considered in Toulouse as a luxury material.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} However, it is enough to give Toulouse's architecture one of its characteristics: red/white polychromy.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

===Romanesque architecture (11th-12th c.)===
[[File:Mur roman.jpg|thumb|Remains of a Romanesque brick wall in the ''Jardin des Plantes'']]

The Romanesque architecture of Toulouse is largely dominated by the presence of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, one of the most important churches of its time in Europe, and fortunate enough to keep its Romanesque character virtually intact.

====Basilica of Saint-Sernin====
[[Saint-Sernin Basilica|Basilica of Saint-Sernin]], part of the [[Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France|Way of Saint James]] [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], was also in itself a major place of pilgrimage. It is one of the two largest surviving [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] churches in Europe.<ref group="note">[[Speyer cathedral]] is slightly larger, but unlike Saint-Sernin this church has been largely destroyed and rebuilt in its history, so the question of which is the largest remaining Romanesque church depends on the criteria chosen as to Romanesque character.</ref> With more than two hundred relics (including that of [[Saturnin|Saint Saturnin]] who gave his name to the church), many of which were donated by [[Charlemagne]] to the shrine that preceded the present church, Saint-Sernin is the church with the most relics after Saint Peter of Rome.<ref name="PatrimoineRevele">Jean-Claude Jaffé, "''Toulouse, le patrimoine révélé''". Éditions Privat, 2013.</ref>

Conceived from the outset as a gigantic reliquary, the church was mainly built at the end of the 11th century and at the beginning of the 12th century to welcome the crowds of pilgrims, its double-sided aisles and the ambulatory surrounding the apse make it the archetype of the great pilgrimage church, where pilgrims could make the circuit around the church and were able to stop for meditation and prayer at the apsidal chapels of the transept and the radiating chapels of the choir. The church is also particularly noteworthy for the quality of its Romanesque sculptures, including numerous capitals and the historiated tympanum of the Miègeville gate, one of the first of its kind.<ref name="SeeYouInToulouse">Quitterie and Daniel Cazes, "See you in Toulouse". Éditions Sud-Ouest, 2018.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Basilica of Saint-Sernin">
File:Basilique_Saint-Sernin_de_Toulouse_-_exposition_ouest-1-.jpg|Basilica of Saint-Sernin
File:Toulouse Saint Sernin (2012.08) 08.jpg|The east side is the oldest part.
File:Tympan_de_la_porte_Miegeville.jpg|Romanesque tympanum of Miègeville gate (late 11th c. or early 12th c.)
File:Console_aux_personnages_symmétiques.JPG|Romanesque sculptures
File:Nef de la Basilique Saint-Sernin. - FRAC31555 18Fi019.jpg|The central nave of the church
</gallery>

===Gothic architecture (13th c.-early 16th c.)===

====Southern French Gothic: a militant religious architecture====
{{see also|Southern French Gothic}}
[[file:Toulouse - Jacobins et ND du Taur.jpg|thumb|Southern French Gothic bell towers and churches]]
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Catholic clergy of the South of France, seeing a growing number of the faithful turning to the [[Catharism]] which advocated a more pious austerity, showed the will to correct the defects of the Catholic Church which indulged in luxury. Under the impulse of the bishop of Toulouse, [[Folquet de Marselha|Foulques]], an austere and militant architectural style was born with the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Toulouse: the '''Southern French Gothic'''. Conceived according to an ideal of poverty and humility to bring the faithful together in a single, vast nave to facilitate preaching, this architectural style then developed during the 13th century in the grand [[Mendicant orders|mendicant convents]] of the city, before spreading in the 14th century to a large number of churches and cathedrals in the region.<ref name="DossierVMF">Caroline de Barrau, "''Le gothique toulousain, un art militant''", in magazine VMF of march 2010 (''revue des Vieilles Maisons Françaises''), in French.</ref>

Several churches or convents in Toulouse belong to this architectural trend, but two of them are particularly symbolic and remarkable:
* [[Toulouse Cathedral|Cathedral of Saint-Étienne]] (Saint Stephen) is the seat of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse]]. Its construction, which was mainly done at the beginning and then at the end of the 13th century, reflects the history of this decisive century which saw the city lose its independence to become a French city. The single nave is the first example of Southern French Gothic, at 19 metres wide it probably was at its completion the widest in Western Europe (1210-1220). The higher choir that adjoins it was built in the Gothic style of northern France shortly after the city became part of the Crown of France in 1271.<ref name="DossierVMF"/>
* [[Church of the Jacobins|Convent of the Jacobins]] (13th century / early 14th century) was the Dominican convent of Toulouse and is considered to be, together with the [[Albi Cathedral]], the pinnacle of Southern French Gothic architecture.<ref name="UnescoAlbi">{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1337.pdf|title=''La Cité épiscopale d'Albi'' (Episcopal City of Albi). Nomination document produced by French state for inscription on the world heritage list, p. 875, chapter comparing the Cathedral of Albi with the Jacobin Convent of Toulouse (in French)|last=|first=|publisher=World Heritage Centre (UNESCO)|year=2009|location=}}</ref> Like all Southern French Gothic churches it has a deliberately austere exterior, but on the inside its alignment of cylindrical columns form one of the tallest colonnades ever erected in Gothic architecture (28 metres high).<ref name="SeeYouInToulouse"/> The masterpiece of this church is the column that closes the choir (1275-1292), its palm tree shape was a hundred years ahead of the flamboyant gothic [[fan vault]]s.<ref name="UnescoAlbi"/> Because he thought that the bones of [[Saint Thomas Aquinas]] deserved «the most beautiful and most splendid surroundings»,<ref name="SeeYouInToulouse"/> in 1368 [[Pope Urban V]] made the church of the Jacobins the burial place of the famous Dominican friar, one of the most notable philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Southern French Gothic religious architecture">
File:Façade_de_la_cathédrale_Saint-Étienne_de_Toulouse.jpg|Toulouse cathedral
File:Ancienne nef, cathédrale Saint-Étienne, Toulouse.jpg|Southern French Gothic nave and northern Gothic choir
File:Couvent_des_Jacobins_de_Toulouse.jpg|Church of the Jacobins, exterior (13th c.)
File:Toulouse-Jacobins-voûte.jpg|The vault of the Jacobins and its famous palm tree
File:Cloître_et_clocher_des_Jacobins.jpg|Cloister (14th c.) and bell tower (1298) of the Jacobins
File:Augustins - Grand cloître et clocher des Augustins de Toulouse.jpg|Augustinian Convent (14th c.)
File:31 - Eglise Notre-Dame du Taur - Facade.jpg|Wall belfry of Notre-Dame du Taur (14th c.)
</gallery>

====Gothic civil architecture====
Toulouse has preserved about thirty Gothic stair towers (plus a dozen Renaissance or later towers),<ref>Jean-François Gourdou, "''Tours tolosanes''", Éditions Privat, 2008.</ref> the remains of private mansions (called ''[[hôtel particulier|hôtels particuliers]]'') from the Middle Ages and the early 16th century. Often hidden in courtyards, some of these towers are high enough to exceed their function of serving the floors and display the ambition of their owners.

At a time when most of the houses in Toulouse were built in wood or [[Cob (material)|cob]], the brick construction of these towers and ''hôtels'' also testifies to their quality.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Gothic civil architecture">
File:Toulouse - Tour de Séguy 1477 01.jpg|Séguy tower, 1477
File:Toulouse - Tour de Boysson.jpg|Boysson tower, 1478
File:Delfau-sommet-2.jpg|Delfau tower, 1497
File:Lancefoc et Serta.jpg|Lancefoc tower (late 15th c.) and Serta tower (1529)
File:Olmieres-tour.jpg|Olmières tower, 1503
File:Bernuy-sommet-2.jpg|Bernuy tower, 1504
File:Bruni-tour.jpg|Bruni tower, 1510
File:Tour de Berenguier Bonnefoy 1513.JPG|Beringuier Bonnefoy tower, 1513
File:2_rue_Saint-Rome_-_Tour_Serta.jpg|Serta tower, 1529
File:Toulouse_-_Maison_Pierre_Delfau_-_Porche_PA00094614.jpg|Door of the Hotel Delfau
</gallery>

===Renaissance architecture (16th c.-early 17th c.)===
{{Main|Renaissance architecture of Toulouse}}
In the 16th century, Toulouse experienced a golden age coinciding with the Renaissance in France. The [[Isatis tinctoria|woad trade]] (''pastel'') brought merchants of international stature to the city, and the [[Parlement of Toulouse]] made the city the judicial capital of a large part of the south of France. These wealthy elites had private mansions built, remarkable for their architecture inspired by architectural treatises such as those of [[Sebastiano Serlio|Serlio]], [[Leon Battista Alberti|Alberti]] or [[Vitruvius]], but also by the royal castles of the [[Châteaux of the Loire Valley|Loire Valley]] and the [[History of Île-de-France|Île-de-France]].<ref name="Toulouse-renaissance"/>

Renowned for the quality of their architecture, the private mansions of the Toulouse Renaissance that have survived to the present day were built over more than a century (around 1515–1620) by reputed architects such as Louis Privat, [[Nicolas Bachelier]], Dominique Bachelier or [[Pierre Souffron]]. The most famous of these ''hôtels'' are those of [[Hôtel d'Assézat|Assézat]], [[Hôtel de Bernuy|Bernuy]], [[Hôtel du Vieux-Raisin|Vieux-Raisin]] or [[Hôtel de Bagis|Clary]]...<ref name="Toulouse-renaissance"/>

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Renaissance private mansions">
File:Hôtel d'Assézat - Main courtyard - 2014-09-01.jpg|Classical facades of hôtel d'Assézat
File:Assezat-15(1).jpg|Hôtel d'Assézat
File:Toulouse - Voûte de l'hôtel de Bernuy.jpg|Low vault of hôtel de Bernuy
File:Vx-raisin_(2).jpg|Renaissance windows at hôtel du Vieux-Raisin
File:Clary_(1).jpg|The hôtel de Clary and its Mannerist decoration
</gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Sample of Renaissance doors">
File:Toulouse-vx-raisin-porte-escalier_01.jpg|Door of hôtel du Vieux-Raisin
File:Assezat-02(12).jpg|Portal of hôtel d'Assézat
File:31_-_Hôtel_d'Assézat_-_Porte_escalier_de_l'angle_nord-ouest.jpg|Door of hôtel d'Assézat
File:Toulouse-porte-assezat-academies.jpg|Door of hôtel d'Assézat
File:Felzins-facade.jpg|Portal of [[Hôtel de Felzins|hôtel Molinier]]
File:Ancien_petit_Séminaire_de_l'Esquile.jpg|Portal of a former college of the university
File:Façade_de_Notre-Dame_de_la_Dalbade_-_Portail.jpg|Portal of Dalbade church
File:Hotel_de_Bagis_-_Porte_des_vieillards.jpg|Door of [[hôtel de Bagis]]
File:Capitole_de_Toulouse_-_Cour_Henri_IV_-_portail_de_Nicolas_Bachelier.jpg|Triumphal portal of the [[Capitole de Toulouse|Capitole]]
</gallery>

===17th century architecture===

====17th century religious architecture====
The [[French Wars of Religion]], which started in the second half of the 16th century, brought to the city many religious orders who came to seek asylum in this solid Catholic bastion. They had baroque churches built in the 17th century: among them, the [[Carthusians|Order of Carthusians]], expelled by the Huguenots from the region of Castres, founded the church of Saint-Pierre des Chartreux, the order of the [[Discalced Carmelites]] built the church of Saint-Exupère, the [[Confraternity of penitents|blue penitents]] founded the church of Saint-Jérôme and the order of [[Carmelite nuns]] created a convent of which a remarkable painted chapel remains.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="17th c. religious architecture">
File:St Pierre des Chartreux - PA00094503.jpg|Church of Saint-Pierre des Chartreux
File:Toulouse_-_St-Pierre_des_chartreux_-_intérieur.jpg|Church of Saint-Pierre des Chartreux
Eglise Saint-Pierre des Chartreux de Toulouse - Façade.jpg|Portal of Saint-Pierre des Chartreux
File:Eglise_Saint-Exupère_de_Toulouse.jpg|Church of Saint-Exupère
File:Eglise_Saint-Exupère_de_Toulouse_-_St_Joseph_by_Drouet.jpg|Church of Saint-Exupère (detail of the facade)
File:Toulouse - Chapelle des Carmélites.jpg|Chapel of the Carmelites, painted decoration
</gallery>

====17th century civil architecture====
After the Renaissance, the decorations in civil architecture became less numerous and ostentatious, due to the importance given to the moderation of the architectural structures and the development of interior decorations. The play of colours (between brick and stone) and reliefs (bossing) were less costly and nevertheless effective solutions for livening up facades. The 17th century is the century that gave Toulouse the largest number of its private mansions, most of them built by members of parlement.<ref name="HotelsDeToulouse">Guy Ahlsell de Toulza, Louis Peyrusse, Bruno Tollon, «Hôtels et demeures de Toulouse et du Midi toulousain» ("Hotels and residences in Toulouse and the region of Toulouse"), Editor Daniel Briand, 1997.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="17th c. civil architecture">
Hotel_de_Caulet-Resseguier_(Toulouse).jpg|Hôtel de Caulet
Hôtel Pierre Comère.jpg|Hôtel Comère
(Toulouse) 24 Grande-rue Nazareth - Hôtel d'Avizard - Façade.jpg|Hôtel d'Avizard
Hotel_st_Jean_3.jpg|Hôtel Saint-Jean (courtyard), former Grand Priory of [[Knights Hospitaller]]
Toulouse-Capitole-Cour_Henri_IV_(2).jpg|Henri IV courtyard of the Capitole: brick and stone.
Hôtel_d'Orbessan_(Toulouse)_-_Façade_rue_Mage_-_Le_portail.jpg|Portal of hôtel d'Orbessan
Toulouse - Portail Desplats.jpg|Portal of hôtel Desplats (courtyard)
</gallery>

===18th century architecture===
In the 18th century Toulouse made its living from its parlement and from the wheat and corn trade, which was boosted by the creation of the [[Canal du Midi]] at the end of the previous century. Among the major architectural achievements, the most notable were undoubtedly the construction of the quays of the Garonne and the new facade of the [[Capitole de Toulouse|Capitole]] (1750-1760), designed by architect [[Guillaume Cammas]].

In the last third of the 18th century, the ever increasing influence of the Parisian model meant that red brick was no longer popular: the city facades were then whitewashed to imitate stone. This is why nowadays, even though the white paint has generally been removed, there are walls with deep grooves carved in brick to imitate ashlar architecture.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="18th century architecture">
File:Capitole-27.jpg|Capitole - city hall
File:Hôtel_d'Espie.JPG|Hôtel d'Espie
File:Hôtel_d'Espie_-_Portail_sur_la_rue_Mage_à_Toulouse.jpg|Portal of hôtel d'Espie
File:Ancien_hôtel_de_Bonfontan_-_41_rue_Croix-Baragnon_Toulouse_-_MériméePA00094534_-_ferronneries_de_style_rocaille,_par_Bernard_Ortet.jpg|Hôtel de Bonfontan
File:Toulouse_-_Basilique_de_la_Daurade_(1).jpg|Basilica of la Daurade
</gallery>

===19th century architecture===
Toulouse's 19th century architecture can be divided into three periods, which sometimes overlapped. In the first half of the century, at the instigation of architect Jacques-Pascal Virebent, the main architecturally unified squares were created: the ''Place du Capitole'' and the ''Place Wilson'' (called ''place Villeneuve'' when it was built), whose uniform architecture was inspired by [[Rue de Rivoli]] in Paris.

From 1830 onwards, Auguste Virebent and his brothers (sons of Jacques-Pascal) developed a factory of low-cost moulded decorations which met with great success and adorned Toulouse facades with numerous terracotta ornaments, far from the austere architecture of their father.

Then, in the last third of the 19th century, large Haussmann-style avenues were opened in the town centre, such as the central Alsace-Lorraine street, built in yellow brick to imitate Parisian stone.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="19th century architecture">
File:Toulouse-Place du Capitole.jpg|''Place du Capitole'', the main square of Toulouse (19th c.)
File:Café_Bibent.jpg|''Place du Capitole'' (''Café Bibent'')
File:Maison Lamothe (Toulouse).jpg|Facade with moulded terracotta decorations (19th c.)
File:Immeuble_28_rue_des_Marchands.jpg|Facade with moulded terracotta decorations (19th c.)
File:Toulouse - rue d'Alsace.jpg|Yellow brick of Alsace-Lorraine street (19th c.)
</gallery>

===20th and 21st centuries architecture===
From the middle of the 19th century, the arrival of the railway in Toulouse facilitated the supply of stone and made it cheaper for construction, and architects did not hesitate to play on the old traditional Toulouse codes linked to the prestige of stone construction, even if these no longer had the economic justification of yesteryear. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, the main railway station was built entirely in white stone.

Subsequently, concrete replaced the traditional materials, but brick and stone were still used for cladding, as shown recently by the work of prestigious architects such as [[Robert Venturi]] and [[Denise Scott Brown]] for the seat of the departmental council, or [[Shelley McNamara]] and [[Yvonne Farrell]] for the Toulouse School of Economics building.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="20th and 21st centuries architecture">
File:Gare de Toulouse-Matabiau - Facade et le Parvis Canal.jpg|Toulouse-Matabiau station, 1905
File:Façade Art Nouveau, rue Gambetta.jpg|Art nouveau facade, Gambetta street (early 20th c.)
File:Immeuble dit de La Dépêche du Midi, Toulouse.jpg|Art Deco facade, Alsace-Lorraine street ({{circa|1930}})
File:Toulouse - Conseil départemental 31.jpg|Seat of the departmental council (1999), by the architect Robert Venturi, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1991
File:Université Toulouse Capitole juin 2020.jpg|Seat of the Toulouse School of Economics (2019), by Grafton Architects, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2020
</gallery>

=== Banks of the Garonne, Canal du Midi, parks ===
[[File:Toulouse - Garonne et Pont Neuf.jpg|thumb|right|Numerous parks and green spaces line the Garonne in the heart of Toulouse.]]
The banks of the [[Garonne|Garonne river]] offer an interesting urban panorama of the city. Red brick dykes from the 18th century enclose the river which was subject to destructive floods. The [[Pont Neuf, Toulouse|Pont-Neuf]] took almost a century to build as the project was so ambitious (1545-1632). It was a very modern bridge for its time, removing the housing on the deck and using techniques such as lowered arches, openings in the piers and stacked spouts to spread the water, making it the only bridge in Toulouse to withstand the violent floods of the past. Further downstream, the [[Bazacle]] is a ford across the [[Garonne]] river, in the 12th century the [[Bazacle Milling Company]] was the first recorded European joint-stock company. On the left bank of the river, historically a flood-prone bank, stand two former hospitals whose origins date back to the 12th century: the Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques and the [[Hôpital de La Grave]]. Isolated on the left bank, victims of the plague and other sick people were thus kept away from the city by the width of the river.

Built at the end of the 17th century, the [[Canal du Midi]] bypasses the city centre and has linked Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea ever since. Its 240 kilometres were inscribed as a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]] in 1996.

The ''[[Jardin des Plantes, Toulouse|Jardin des Plantes]]'', the ''Grand Rond'' and the ''Jardin Royal'' form a set of adjacent parks that span several blocks and include the Museum of Natural History, cafés, children's activities and a [[botanical garden]] (18th-19th century). The ''Prairie des Filtres'', the Raymond VI garden and the Japanese garden are other interesting parks that border the center of Toulouse.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Banks of the Garonne, Canal du Midi, parks">
File:Le Pont-Neuf de Toulouse.jpg|''Pont-Neuf'' (16th-17th c.)
File:Garonne_5102.jpg|Red brick dykes from the 18th century
File:Panorama Quais & Pont Neuf Toulouse.jpg|Quays of the Garonne and ''Pont-Neuf''
File:Hotel-dieu-02b(1).jpg|''Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques'' former hospital (12th–19th c.)
File:Hopital_de_la_Grave_-_Toulouse_-_2012-06-23.jpg|''[[Hôpital de La Grave|La Grave]]'' former hospital (12th–19th c.) and the copper dome of its chapel
File:Le_Port_de_la_Daurade.jpg|''Port de la Daurade'', a former river port converted into a recreational area
File:Toulouse rempart et dôme au jardin Raymond VI.jpg|[[Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse|Raymond VI]] garden, at the foot of the last remains of the old Toulouse ramparts on the left bank
File:Canal du Midi Ramonville.jpg|''[[Canal du Midi]]'' (17th c.)
File:Grand_Rond_(jardin).jpg|''Grand rond'' park
File:Jardin_Japonais_de_Toulouse.jpg|Japanese garden
File:Ancienne_porte_du_Capitole_(Toulouse).jpg|Renaissance portal in ''[[Jardin des Plantes, Toulouse|Jardin des plantes]]''
</gallery>

=== Museums and theme parks ===
Toulouse has many museums, the most important of which are:
* ''[[Musée des Augustins]]'' is the fine arts museum of Toulouse, it is located in the former [[Augustinian convent (Toulouse)|Augustinian convent]].
* [[Hôtel d'Assézat#Bemberg Foundation|Bemberg Foundation]], housed in the [[Hôtel d'Assézat]], presents to the public one of the major private collections of art in Europe.
* ''[[Musée Saint-Raymond]]'' is the archeological museum of Toulouse, located in a former college of the university it presents the ancient history of Toulouse and a very rich collection of Roman sculptures from the imperial [[Roman villa of Chiragan]].
* ''Musée Paul Dupuy'' is the museum of Decorative Arts and Graphic Arts, including a very rich collection of clocks and watches.
* ''[[Georges Labit Museum|Musée Georges Labit]]'' is dedicated to artifacts from the Far-Eastern and Ancient Egyptian civilizations.
* ''[[Muséum de Toulouse]]'' is one of the most important natural history museums in France, housed in the former convent of the Discalced Carmelites.
* ''[[Les Abattoirs]]'' is the museum of modern and contemporary art of the city, opened in a former municipal slaughterhouse.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Museums">
File:Augustins_-_Gargouilles_de_l'ancienne_église_des_Cordeliers.jpg|''[[Musée des Augustins]]''
File:Augustins - Vierge à l'Enfant dite Notre-Dame de Grasse RA 788.jpg|''[[Nostre Dame de Grasse]]'' at ''[[Musée des Augustins]]''
File:Bemberg Fondation Toulouse - Hercule à la cour d'Omphale - Lucas Cranach l'Ancien - 1537 Inv.1098.jpg|Painting of Lucas Cranach the Elder at Bemberg Foundation
File:Toulouse - St Raymond.jpg|''[[Musée Saint-Raymond]]''
File:Musée Georges Labit.jpg|''[[Georges Labit Museum]]''
File:Grand carré MHNT.jpg|''[[Muséum de Toulouse]]''
File:Les abattoirs - Musée d'art moderne de Toulouse.jpg|''[[Les Abattoirs]]''
File:Toulouse - Abattoirs - Picasso.jpg|Picasso at ''[[Les Abattoirs]]''
</gallery>

Toulouse also has several theme parks, notably highlighting its aeronautical and space heritage:
* ''[[Cité de l'espace]]'' is a scientific discovery centre focused on spaceflight.
* ''[[Aeroscopia]]'' is an aeronautical theme park located near [[Toulouse–Blagnac Airport]], dedicated to the preservation of aeronautical historical heritage (it hosts for example two [[Concorde]] airliners).
* ''[[L'Envol des pionniers]]'' is a museum that traces the great adventure of l'[[Aéropostale (aviation)|Aéropostale]], a pioneering airmail company based in Toulouse which operated between France and South America from 1918 to 1933, and employed legendary pilots such as [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]], [[Jean Mermoz]] or [[Henri Guillaumet]]...
* ''[[Halle de La Machine]]'' is a vast hall that houses numerous small or giant animated machines, often inspired by the world of aeronautics, human or technological epics.

<gallery mode="packed" heights=130 caption="Theme parks">
File:Ariane 5 at Cite de l'Espace 1.jpg|''[[Cité de l'espace]]''
File:France Occitanie 31 Toulouse 04.jpg|''Cité de l'espace''
File:Tarmac Nord Aeroscopia.jpg|''[[Aeroscopia]]''
File:Replica Salmson 2 A.2 at Envol des pionniers.jpg|Replica [[Salmson 2|Salmson 2 A.2]] at ''[[L'Envol des pionniers]]''
File:Piste des Géants et halle de la Machine.jpg|''[[Halle de La Machine]]''
File:Minotaure 2.jpg|The giant Minotaur of the ''Halle de La Machine''
</gallery>