PETITES HISTOIRES DE QUARTIER : MINIMES (JOURNÉES DU PATRIMOINE)

Imagine a vast moorland here, planted with vines, from which you can watch barges laden with goods gliding along the Canal du Midi. Later, in the 1850s, urbanisation forced market gardeners to move further north. Gardens gradually replaced the vineyards, and the neighbourhood came to consist of these small houses known as ‘toulousaines’ and the peaceful streets where the ‘gafets’ (children in Occitan) would run to the pig market. There is still a pretty noria where people used to draw water.

The tour also highlights the establishment by Saint Francis of Paola of the religious order of the ‘Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi’, later known as ‘the Minims’. Their monastery was established here from 1503 onwards and gave the neighbourhood its name. The interior of the church is a listed building and is adorned with works of art illustrating the golden age of Renaissance painting in Toulouse: François Fayet, Nicolas Tournier.
Today, the neighbourhood has been urbanised, and the tour explores this modern identity by recalling the waves of Spanish exiles in the late 1930s.

Firmly rooted in its brick-built surroundings, the neighbourhood never ceases to surprise, featuring a huge 65-metre-long mural by street artist 100Taur. It is there, in front of the boules court, that the tour ends. Fancy a quick game of pétanque?

Guided tour organised by the Toulouse Tourist Office as part of European Heritage Days. Booking essential, limited places available.