Albi

Administrative centre of the Tarn département in the Midi-Pyrénées region of southwest France, situated on the River Tarn, 72 km/45 mi northeast of Toulouse; population (1999) 46,300. Industries include the manufacture of textiles, glass, cement, dyes, and flour. Albi was the centre of the Albigensian heresy in the 12th and 13th centuries (see Albigenses), and was the birthplace of the artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

Albi has an agricultural market and is known for its foie gras truffe.

Albi is the seat of an archbishopric and has a 13th–16th-century Gothic cathedral, Ste Cécile, built of faded red brick and towering over the town. The interior is highly decorated with coloured designs on walls, roof, and pillars. There is also a fortified 13th-century archiepiscopal palace which is now a museum, housing the works of Toulouse-Lautrec.