La maison du Vieil Alby – Old Albi House

The Old Albi House is without doubt one of the most iconic buildings in the historic heart of the city. You can’t miss it as you wind your way through the narrow streets of the Castelnau district. You’ll be immediately struck by its brick and half-timbered façades, hallmarks of the Middle Ages. Everything about this house, from the small doorway right up to the roof, tells us a story. There’s a ground floor, once home to shops, and two upper floors. The first floor overhangs the street as it’s built on corbels, that is, projections jutting out from a wall to support a structure above. But the second floor is the real showstopper! Notice its open-air design? There’s actually a reason for it! This is no simple balcony; it’s what they call a “Soleillou”, a type of attic where they stored goods, hung up laundry to dry, and even dried out woad flowers that grew in the region. This beloved local landmark almost got knocked down in the 1960s. They were planning to rebuild the entire neighborhood and replace the beautiful red-brick buildings with concrete block ones. Luckily, this crazy plan never got off the ground thanks to the Old Albi Association. They stepped in and saved the day, spearheading the restoration of the site between 1968 and 1970. Now open to visitors, the Old Albi House hosts temporary exhibitions on local culture, history, and life in the Tarn region. There’s also a permanent exhibition retracing the youth of the Albigensian painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. For the perfect Albi souvenir photo, snap a shot of this charming medieval house with the giant bell tower of the Saint-Cécile Cathedral in the background – that’s a postcard in the making!