Albi is one of the newest additions to the Unesco world heritage list and it's easy to see why it was included in 2010. There's nothing like the 13th-15th century cathedral of Sainte-Cécile d'Albi. The world's biggest brick cathedral, it is heavily reinforced and fortified, and towers over the town in a demonstration of power that looks more military than spiritual.
Which it was: Albi was the centre of the Cathar heresy of the 12th and 13th centuries (hence it was also known as the "Albigensian" heresy), crushed after a 20-year campaign by Rome in the only Crusade waged against fellow Christians.
The cathedral's forbidding, narrow-windowed exterior cannot prepare you for what's inside. If the outside is the "shock", the vast interior is the "awe". Seemingly every inch of the walls is covered with inlaid stone patterns, intricate carvings and paintings by Italian Renaissance artists. Below the organ, France's third-biggest, is an astonishing fresco of The Last Judgment that originally covered nearly 200 square metres.
Other medieval highlights of the city include the Saint-Salvi romanesque church and surrounding area; the aptly named Pont Vieux (Old Bridge), still in use after nearly 1,000 years; and the imposing Bishops' Palace, which since 1922 has housed the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum.
The celebrated painter was a native of Albi, though he will be forever associated with Paris - his paintings and posters of cancan girls and absinthe-swilling artists have helped define the popular image of the French capital.
The museum has easily the world's largest collection of his work, with more than 1,000 pieces, most donated by the painter's mother after his death, as well as some personal effects such as a walking stick with built-in absinthe flask.
If you have time to head out of Albi, just to the west is Gaillac, with its fortified villages such as Puycelsi and Castelnau de Montmiral. To the north-west you will find Cordes-sur-Ciel, a small and astonishingly well preserved 14th-15th century town on a hill overlooking two valleys.
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