4 Best Sights in Toulouse, Toulouse and the Languedoc

Toulouse's most famous landmark and the world's largest Romanesque church once belonged to a Benedictine abbey, built in the 11th century to house pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Inside, the aesthetic high point is the magnificent central apse, begun in 1080, glittering with gilded ceiling frescoes, which date to the 19th century. When illuminated at night, St-Sernin's five-tier octagonal tower glows red against the sky. Not all the tiers are the same: the first three, with their rounded windows, are Romanesque; the upper two, with pointed Gothic windows, were added around 1300. The ancient crypt contains the relics and reliquaries of 128 saints, but its most famed treasure is a thorn that legend says is from the Crown of Thorns.

The 18th-century Capitole is home to the Hôtel de Ville and the city's highly regarded opera company. Halfway up the Grand Escalier (Grand Staircase) hangs a large painting of the Jeux Floraux, the "floral games" organized by a literary society created in 1324 to promote the local Occitanian language, Langue d'Oc. The festival continues to this day: poets give public readings here each May, and the best are awarded silver- and gold-plated violets, one of the emblems of Toulouse. At the top of the stairs is the Salle Gervaise, a hall adorned with a series of paintings inspired by the themes of love and marriage. The mural at the far end of the room portrays the Isle of Cythères, where Venus received her lovers, alluding to a French euphemism for getting married: embarquer pour Cythères (to embark for Cythères). More giant paintings in the Salle Henri-Martin, named for the artist (1860–1943), show the passing seasons set against the eternal Garonne. Look for Jean Jaurès (1859–1914), one of France's greatest socialist martyrs, in Les Rêveurs (The Dreamers); he's wearing a boater-style hat and a beige coat. At the far left end of the elegant Salle des Illustres (Hall of the Illustrious) is a large painting of a fortress under siege, portraying the women of Toulouse slaying Simon de Montfort, leader of the Albigensian crusade against the Cathars, during the siege of Toulouse in 1218.

An extraordinary structure built in the 1230s for the Dominicans (renamed Jacobins in 1216 for their Parisian base in Rue St-Jacques), this church is dominated by a single row of seven columns running the length of the nave. The easternmost column (on the far right) is one of the finest examples of palm-tree vaulting ever erected, the much-celebrated Palmier des Jacobins, a major masterpiece of Gothic art. Fanning out overhead, its 22 ribs support the entire apse. The original refectory site is used for temporary art exhibitions, dance performances, and community events. The cloister is one of the city's aesthetic and acoustical gems, and in summer hosts piano and early music concerts.

This hangarlike indoor market, where you're sure to find the ingredients for almost any French recipe, is always a refreshing stop. Consider eating lunch at one of the five upstairs restaurants; Chez Attila, just to the left at the top of the stairs, is among the best.