TOULOUSE, the ancient Tolosa, a city in France, formerly capital of the province of Languedoc, now of the department of llaute Garonne, is situated at a distance of 3G3 miles S. from Paris, in 43° 35' 90" N. lat., 1° 26' 35" E. long., and had 85,554 inhabitants in the commune at. the census of 1851.
Tolosa belonged to the Volcm Tectosagcs, a Celtic nation. An enormous treasure in gold and silver, deposited in the temples or con secrated places of the city, was seized by the Romans under Cmpio, n.e. 106. (:lulus Gellius, ' Noctes Attica,' Ill. ix.) Toulouse was afterwards subject to the Romans, the Visigoths, and the Franks, and in the middle ages had counts of its own, who were potentates of great importance in the south of France. [Lessourenoe.) The last historical event of importance connected with it was the battle fought (April 10th, 1814) between the allied army under the Duke of Wellington and the French under Marshal Sault, who was defeated, and obliged to evacuate the town.
Toulouse is situated on the right bank of the Garonne, which, flowing from the south, bends westward, forming a crescent, on the concave side of which the town stands. As the Canal-du-Midi, or Caual-de-Languedoc, which unites the Garonne with the Mediter ranean, opens into the river a short distance below the town, and has its course for some distance parallel to the river, the site of the town and its suburbs is a peninsula, inclosed between the Garonne, close to the town, on the west, and the canal at a little distance ou the north and east. On the Booth side, but at some distance, are the heights of Pech-David ; and on the cast, beyond the canal, and between it and the little river Lens (which flows parallel to the canal, and falls into the Garonne below it), are the heights of Mont Rave, on which the fiercest part of the battle of Toulouse, in 1819, took place.
The town and the suburb of SL-Cyprien, which is on the opposite bank of the river, are inclosed by walls, erected in the middle ages, and are united by a bridge of seven arches, the Pont-Neuf, about tido feet long, erected under Louis XIV., from the designs of Sonffron, which crosses the river in the middle of the bend. The river is lined with handsome quays. The walls, which have nine gates, were in 1814 tolerably entire (Napier, I'eninsular War '), but are fast disap peariug in the progress of improvement. Besides St.-Cypricn, there are several other On the south-east side of the town, between the suburbs St-Etienne and St-Michel, is the Espleuade, a circular space surrounded by trees, planted so as to form four con centric circles, and having six avenues radiating from it, each with four rows of trees, forming three alley& The streets of the town are narrow, crooked, ill paved, and dirty ; the squares irregular in form; the houses high, built generally of brick in an old rambling style, but many are constructed with planks. Improvements however have been
recently effected. Of the squares, the Place-Royale, Place-St.-George, and Place-Augouleme are the handsomest. Numerous detached foun tains, some of which are very handsome, and a hundred fountains issuing from walla, serve to cleanse and refresh the streets.
The principal public buildings are the cathedral, the capitol or Ildtol de-Ville, the ex-archiepiscopal palace, and the church of the Grands Augustine, now occupied as a museum. The nave and portal of the cathedral are more ancient thau the choir. The choir, erected in the 16th century as part of a new edifice desigued to replace the older one, is described by the same author as oue of the most beautiful in Fraoce. The choir is not in a line with the nave; so that the whole structure has a very irregular figure. The town-hall, or capitol, is almost entirely a modern building, erected on the site of a more ancient one. It has a front of about 380 feet long by 123 feet high, and is of most imposing appearance. A gallery termed 'Galeria des Illustres,' is set apart for busts of those persons, natives of the city or connected with it, whom the town has thought worthy of the honour of a place. The ex-palace of the archbishop, now occupied by the prefect of the department, is the handsomest modern building after the capitol. The museum in the cloister and church of the Grands Augustine con tains a number of antiquities, which have been collected in the department. Besides thess edifices may be noticed the theatre, the new court-houses, the veterinary school, the church of La-Dorado, built on the site of an ancient heathen temple, and that of St. Saturnin, the interior of which is very impressive ; the vast hospitals of the 115tel-Dieu and St-Joseph-de-la-Grave, the Bazacle and ChAteau corn mills, the Calvinist chapel, the synagogue, the abattoirs, and the bridge and bas-relief at the junction of the Canal-du-Midi and the Canal-de-Brienne. This Latter canal, which is very short, connects the Garonne at the mill of Bazacle, adjacent to the town wall, with the Canal-du-Midi. In the Ile-de-Tounia, a small island in the Garoune opposite the town, and indeed forming part of it (for the island is covered with buildings), are the ruins of the Castle of Narbounais, the former residence of the counts of Toulouse. Toulouse has scarcely any remains of Roman buildings. There are a large public gardeu, a botanic garden, rich especially in plants from the Pyreuees, and in exotics, where courses on instruction in botany are given ; an obser vatory and a public walk, Cours Dillon,' in the Faubourg St-Cyprien, on the bank of the Garonne.