Place Nationale

The Place Nationale is the main square of Montauban, the town on the Tarn river, north of Toulouse, and it is often described as the pink centre of the Cité d'Ingres, the nickname given to the town after its most famous son, the painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Montauban is built of red brick, like Toulouse, but its tone is softer and more orange, and the square, with its arcades, is the best place to see it. It is also a very good example of a bastide, a planned medieval town. Montauban was founded in 1144 by Alphonse Jourdain, Count of Toulouse, which makes it one of the oldest bastides in the south-west, and the square was the centre of the new town, with streets laid out on a grid around it.

The square as seen today was rebuilt in the seventeenth century, after fires destroyed earlier buildings, in 1613 and again in 1649. The new houses were built to a uniform design, with arcades, called couverts, on the ground floor, in brick and stone, and with upper storeys set above them. This regular scheme, with its pairs of arcades running around all four sides, influenced the design of later towns in the region. The arcades vary slightly in width so that they line up with the structures behind them, and the keystones of the arches often bear dates and the names of the owners, so a walk under them gives you a chance to read small clues about the history of each house. Many buildings have shops on the ground floor and homes above, and in the attics you can see small openings called mirandes, used for ventilation and drying.

The square has been renovated in recent years, with new paving, street furniture and a redesigned Place des Cafetiers, where the café terraces spill out beneath the arcades. A water mirror, a shallow basin of water set into the paving, operates during the day and into the evening, with cycles of reflection, mist and jets, and in summer children and adults cool off in it. It is a place for sitting, watching the town and eating.

The square is open at all times and free. A market is held on certain mornings, and the surrounding streets have shops open from the morning to the early evening. It is the starting point for guided visits.

It suits walkers, architecture lovers and families. The Collégiale Saint-Jacques, the Musée Ingres-Bourdelle, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montauban and the Parc de la Châtaigneraie are all close by.