Albi, in the Tarn department of South West France, was added to the List of UNESCO World Heritage sites, announced by the Brazilian culture Minsiter on Saturday, during the 34th committee of UNESCO at Brasilia.
The announcement was made on Twitter by the committee secretary direct from Brasilia.
Albi, known for the beauty of the red-brick cathedral of Saint Cécile, dating from 1232 and the “Palais de la Berbie”, a fortress with a huge keep and fortified courtyard, which has housed the museum of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec since 1922, the famous painter who was born in Albi.
Aside from the cathedral and its ochre brickwork, there is the fortified church of Saint-Salvi with its cloisters, the old bridge (Le Pont Vieux) and several other historic sites around the city, including the medieval old town with its half-timbered houses and narrow streets, which has earnt the nickname of “The Red City”.
Presented as the biggest ensemble of baked-clay-bricks in the world, the city featured strongly during the crusades led by Simon de Montfort against the Cathare heretics in the 13th century.
The cathedral, Saint C̩cile is famous for its painted vaulted ceiling Рthe biggest in the world, its Gothic porch and frescoes dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, inspired by Flemish and Italian renaissance art.
Albi is the 34th French site to be added to the list – in the South West of France, the list includes, Carcassonne, the Pilgrimmage paths of St Jacques de Compostelle, The Canal du Midi and the Mont Perdu with The Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees.