Editing Albi (section)

==Main sights==
Albi was built around the original [[Albi Cathedral|cathedral]] and episcopal group of buildings. This historic area covers 63 hectares. Red brick and tiles are the main feature of most of the edifices. Along with [[Toulouse]] and [[Montauban]], Albi is one of the main cities built in [[Languedoc]]-style red brick.

Among the buildings of the town is the [[Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d'Albi|Sainte Cécile cathedral]], a masterpiece of the [[Southern French Gothic|Southern Gothic]] style, built between the 13th and 15th centuries. It is characterised by a strong contrast between its austere, defensive exterior and its sumptuous interior decoration. Built as a statement of the Christian faith after the upheavals of the [[Cathar]] heresy, this gigantic brick structure was embellished over the centuries: the ''Dominique de Florence'' Doorway, the 78&nbsp;m high bell tower, the Baldaquin over the entrance (1515–1540). The [[rood screen]] is a filigree work in stone in the [[Flamboyant Gothic]] style. It is decorated with a magnificent group of polychrome statuary carved by artists from the [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundian]] workshops of [[Cluny]] and comprising over 200 statues, which have retained their original colours.

[[Image:Albi palais berbie.JPG|thumb|Palais de la Berbie]]
Older than the ''[[Palais des Papes]]'' in [[Avignon]], the ''Palais de la Berbie'', formerly the Bishops' [[Palace]] of Albi, now the [[Musée Toulouse-Lautrec|Toulouse-Lautrec Museum]], is one of the oldest and best-preserved [[castles]] in France. This imposing fortress was completed at the end of the 13th century. Its name comes from the [[Occitan language|Occitan]] word ''Bisbia'', meaning Bishops' Palace.

The Old Bridge (''Pont Vieux'') is still in use after almost a millennium. Originally built in stone (in 1035), then clad with brick, it rests on eight arches and is 151&nbsp;m long. In the 14th century, it was fortified and reinforced with a drawbridge, and houses were built on the piers.

Albi is a city known for its elite ''Lycée Lapérouse'', a high school with 500 students situated inside an old monastery. It has several advanced literature classes. Furthermore, it is one of the few holding a full-scale music section with special high-tech rooms for this section. The Pacific explorer [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse]] is commemorated in the museum.
[[File:Toulouse-Lautrec - La Goulue arrivant au Moulin Rouge.jpg|thumb|120px|''La Goulue arriving at the Moulin Rouge'', by [[Toulouse-Lautrec]] (1892)]]
Located in an ancient mill (41 rue Porta), the Le LAIT Art Centre is a research laboratory dedicated to contemporary art.<ref name="centredartlelait">{{cite web|url=http://www.centredartlelait.com/?lang=en#|website=centredartlelait.com|title=centre d'art Le Lait|access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref>

===Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec===
The [[Musée Toulouse-Lautrec|Toulouse-Lautrec Museum]] houses more than 1000 works, including 31 famous posters. This body of work forms the largest public collection in the world devoted to [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]], who was born in Albi in 1864. <ref name="BnF Catalogue général">{{cite web|url=http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb11926892d|title=Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec |publisher=BnF Catalogue général|access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref>

===World Heritage Site===
UNESCO's World Heritage Centre notes the Old Bridge (Pont-Vieux), the Saint-Salvi quarter, the quarter's church, the fortified cathedral (late 13th century) in unique southern French Gothic style from local brick, the bishop's Palais de la Berbie, and residential quarters, which help the Episcopal City of Albi form a "coherent and homogeneous ensemble of monuments and quarters that has remained largely unchanged over the centuries... a complete built ensemble representative of a type of urban development in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day."<ref>
{{cite web
| title = Episcopal City of Albi
| publisher = World Heritage Centre - UNESCO
| url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1337/
| access-date = 20 August 2012}}</ref>