Saint-Pierre bridge

You’ve reached Saint-Pierre Square, where you’ll get to dive into the city’s lively student scene! The city is home to over 130,000 students! Here, plenty of bars and cafés stay open late into the evening; terraces are jam-packed, buzzing with chatter and laughter. It’s a go-to spot for a night out. Just behind the square is the Church of Saint-Pierre des Cuisines, a former basilica whose foundations date back to the 5th century. Now used as an auditorium for the Conservatoire, it has nothing to do with cookery – in case you were wondering! Its name comes from the Frenchified version of the word “Coquinis”, designating small craftsmen engaged in the so-called polluting trades, such as tanning. As you set off from Saint-Pierre Square, you’ll be crossing the most beautiful bridge in Toulouse; it’s one of the classic photo spots of the city, with the chapel of Saint-Joseph de La Grave in the background! The Saint-Pierre bridge was originally a wooden toll bridge, at a time when pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages were both using the road. Severely damaged by several floods, it was rebuilt as a suspension bridge in 1927. Eventually, with the growing importance of road traffic and the increasing weight of trucks, the municipality decided to finance the complete rebuilding of the bridge. Before you is the rather successful result of this effort. But the infamous Toulousian postcard wouldn’t be complete without the dome of the chapel de la Grave, peeking out from behind. In fact, it’s the city’s most photographed monument! Built in the 18th century on a gravel bar that gave it its name, it’s part of the La Grave hospital complex, founded in 1197 to accommodate plague patients. After a well-deserved refurbishment, the chapel once again opened its doors to the public as an exhibition site!