Les Jacobins was built by St-Dominic to ensure the converted heretics didn't revert after the fall of Toulouse during the Albigensian Crusade.
Polychromatic decor in les Jacobins
Glass-filtered light on the inner walls of les Jacobins
Saint-Sernin Basilica is another of Saint-Dominic's post-crusade construction / evangelical efforts in Toulouse
St-Sernin Basilica organ
Scrolling grillwork is common on old-Toulouse façades
Many hIstoric buildings, streets and squares in Toulouse centre ville are marked with interpretative signs explaining their significance. Half of the sign is in French; the other half is in Occitan, the traditional (pre-Albigensian Crusade/pre-conquest-by-French king) language of southern France. But the Occitan tells a very different story than the French.
For example, the sign for a leading from le jardin de plantes says (in French) that the street name is derived from the name of so-and-so, who lived in this building from this year to that year (a mere 1000 years ago). The Occitan section describes how so-and-so, for whom the street is named, was one of the Cathar defenders of Toulouse against the French and Catholic crusaders during the Albigensian Crusade.
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