Montauban

Montauban (in Occitan Montalban) is a city in southwestern France. It is the capital and prefecture of the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitania region.

Basic data

It has 54,421 inhabitants and is the capital of the Tarn-et-Garonne department. It is located about 50 km north of Toulouse, on the left bank of the River Tarn.

Demographics

History

In 1144, Count Alfonso Jordán founded Montauban. It will be the first bastide in history. From the 1530s onwards the population of Montauban converted to Protestantism to become fully Huguenot at the start of the Wars of Religion. In 1556, the mass for the death of Henry II was not held for eight months.. In January 1561, the Protestant cult is public; Catholic monks are not allowed to pray in the month of August. The bishop is expelled and the only consuls in the city are Protestants.

In 1598, Henry IV, having granted religious rights to the Protestants of France by the Edict of Nantes, granted the latter about sixty seats. Montauban will be one of the most important security posts granted by the decree, along with Nimes and La Rochelle.

Manuel Azaña, president of the Second Spanish Republic, is buried in Montauban. Montauban, like other cities in the south of France, saw for years thousands of exiled Spaniards fleeing Francoism settle, initially provisionally.

Monuments

• 

  City Hall.

• 

  The Ingres Museum

• 

  Cathedral.

• 

  The Old Bridge.

• 

  Manuel Azaña tomb.

Notable people