The Castelviel Frescoes

The Castelviel neighborhood is but a handful of streets west of the Saint-Cécile Cathedral. It’s the oldest one in the city, dating from protohistoric times – we’re talking all the way back to the era of early metalworking, even before writing was a thing! Every red brick here whispers stories of Albi’s past. And speaking of stories, you’ll find two artistic ones on either side of Castelviel Street. The first one is a small fresco, just visible at the end of this dead-end street. It shows a man, brush in hand and canvas beside him, who seems startled by your arrival. That, my friend, is local painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the famous post-impressionist artist whose portraits, caricatures, posters and other remarkable works greatly influenced the French art scene of the 19th century. Back in 2015, when they renamed this dead-end street, they held a contest to pick a fresco for the back wall. There were three ideas: an ocean liner, a horse, and this homage to the aforementioned artist. As you can see, the locals and tourists went with the last one; it was created by a student at the European School of Arts and Materials. Further down the street, right before the Place du Château, aka Castle Square, you’ll find Castelviel’s second most famous fresco. This one’s huge! It was unveiled in 1989 to celebrate two things: the bicentenary of the French Revolution and the annexation of the Castelviel district to Albi, following a serious political dispute between the Count of Toulouse and the Count of Castres around 1295. So you see, the Castelviel frescoes show how, here, art and history go hand-in-hand when it comes to understanding the city’s rich past.