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Albi (Municipality, Tarn, France)

Flag of Albi - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 14 March 2025

Presentation of Albi
Flag of Albi
- Former flags of Albi

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Presentation of Albi

Albi (49,714 inhabitants on 4,426 ha) is a commune and the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse.
The episcopal city, around the Cathedral Sainte-Cécile, was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2010 for its unique architecture. The site includes the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, dedicated to the artist who was born in Albi.

The site of Albi has been occupied since prehistoric times. During the second half of the 4th century BC, the Ruteni, Gauls, created a large domain corresponding to the future dioceses of Albi and Rodez. In 120 BC, the region was conquered by the Romans, but Romanization was weak and Albi retained its character as a small Gallic city. The port of Albi became a place of exchange and transit for many goods and travelers.

The first bishop of Albi was Diogenes around 405 and the first mention of Civitas albigensium dates from 406. In 418, the Visigoths invaded the region and took control of it, then the Franks seized it in 507. In July 666, a major fire ravaged the city. During the Middle Ages, the city was an oppidum surrounded by walls. In the 10th century, the first bridge over the Tarn was built in Albi. This is the current Pont-Vieux. This bridge allowed the development of the city on both banks of the Tarn. Around the year 1000, Albi entered the fiefdom of the Trencavel family, the lords of Ambialet.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Albi was a center of the Cathar religious movement; a controversy that took place there gave the Cathars the nickname of Albigeois [Albigensians] (those who defended the doctrine advocated in Albi). Catharism was violently repressed during the crusade against the Albigensians. However, Albi passed into the Catholic camp without resistance under the leadership of its bishop Guilhem Peyre who significantly strengthened the city's autonomy. The Viscount of Carcassonne, Raimond-Roger Trencavel, lost his fiefdom in 1209 during the capture of Carcassonne. Subsequently, under the aegis of the lord of the city and vice-inquisitor of France Bernard de Castanet, the construction of the fortified episcopal palace of Berbie and the imposing Sainte-Cécile cathedral anchored the city in the bosom of the Church. The bishops wanted to mark the power of the Church through these new buildings.

In the 14th century, the structure of the city was significantly transformed. It was divided into six districts, or "gaches", surrounded by walls. The Pont Vieux was fortified on both the suburb and city sides, with a drawbridge at each end. The Plassa is the heart of the city located at the foot of the cathedral. In the suburbs are the mills and tanneries. The large number of these mills clutters the riverbed, which can no longer flow. As its natural course is modified, the deposit of sediments and erosion are also modified, leading to the sacrifice of some of these mills to allow the water to flow.

The Renaissance period was marked by prosperity thanks to the cultivation of pastel, a plant used, among other things, to make a blue dye that was highly sought after at the time. The region was called the "country of plenty". Many bourgeois quickly became rich andinfluential in the life of the city. This was the time when many residences and private mansions were built, which can still be seen today in the streets of Albi. The Enjalbert house, the Gorsse hotel and the Reynès hotel are good examples of the architecture of this period. In 1474, Louis d'Amboise was appointed Bishop of Albi. He had previously been the French ambassador to Rome, then advisor to King Louis XI and Lieutenant General of the province of Languedoc. He was behind the installation of Neumeister, a master printer from Mainz and a collaborator of Gutenberg. It was one of the first printers' workshops in France after those in Paris and Lyon.

In the 16th century, new troubles appeared with the arrival of Calvinism in France around 1540. On February 25, 1560, Albi organized a large expiatory procession and the regent Catherine de Medici appointed her cousin Laurent Strozzi to the episcopal seat, who was responsible for defending the city against the Protestants. The Saint-Barthélemy massacre (August 24, 1572 in Paris) was repeated in Albi on October 5, and gave rise to settling of scores. Albi joined the political revolt of the League. Around 1581, in addition to the wars of religion, the plague wreaked havoc in Albi. The 17th century was a period of economic decline for Albi and its region. Pastel was losing ground and the city was looking for new economic outlets. Glassmaking, tanning and weaving were important activities but thecity was unable to return to its former level of prosperity. The economic context on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789 was particularly difficult.

During the Revolution, Albi lost its driving role for a time to Castres, which became the capital of the new Tarn department in 1790. But the Republicans considered Castres unsafe and fled to take refuge in Albi. The city became the capital of Tarn in 1797. The railway arrived in Albi in 1864. A second bridge, the current Pont Neuf, was built over the Tarn, as well as a viaduct for the train opened in October 1864. Metallurgy was established at the Saut du Tarn, leading to the appearance of specialized foundries, but the best-known activity was the Albi workers' glassworks, founded in 1896 as a self-managed workers' cooperative thanks to the help of a national subscription and Jean Jaurès, and following the Carmaux strike of 1895. Hat-making was also an important industry in Albi, placing it among the leading in France in the 19th century.

During the Second World War, the Vichy regime created a Centre to gather foreigners. In August 1942, demonstrations took place against the Relève volunteer work program The Archbishop of Albi, Jean-Joseph Moussaron, openly protested the persecution of Jews in 1942. At the same time, he organized the clandestine reception of Jewish refugees in certain Catholic institutions in the region and secretly appointed chaplains in the maquis. Arrested by the Gestapo on June 12, 1944 and then imprisoned in Toulouse, Moussaron was welcomed triumphantly by the people of Albi upon his release.

Today, Albi is a center of innovation with the Albi-Carmaux School of Mines (research on solar energy, cars and clean fuels). The city highlights its natural and cultural assets to develop green tourism.

Olivier Touzeau, 14 March 2025

Flag of Albi

The flag is white with logo: photo (december 2021), photo (january 2023), photo (february 2023).
The current logo was adopted in 2021.

Olivier Touzeau, 14 March 2025

Former flags of Albi

Former flags of Albi - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 14 March 2025

The former flag was white with logo: photo (2013).
The logo was modified in 2018 with the addition of the URL of the website: photo (2021).

Olivier Touzeau, 14 March 2025