Editing Toulouse (section)

=== 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>