an interactive map to find out the origin of the street names
The municipal archives have put a new service online on “Urban-Hist”, the website dedicated to Toulouse’s heritage. Thanks to an interactive map, you can learn about the history of Toulouse’s arteries.
Did you know that before calling themselves the Alleys Jean Jaurès, this important Toulouse artery is called Louis-Napoleon Alley ? It was not until 1922, eight years after the assassination of the former socialist deputy from Tarn, that this central alley took its current name.
This is one of the many information given by the site of the municipal archives of Toulouse, hist-urbain.toulouse.fr. There is an interactive map, titled “In the name of the way”, to know everything about the arteries of the 4th largest city in France.
UrbanHist + is enriched!
Everything about the history of the streets of Toulouse is now possible! “In the name of the route” tells you everything (origins, evolution of appellations, …). Made with @ AXIODIS1 https://t.co/0aIqwN0TQP@ToulouseArchive @Toulouse
A. Cros pic.twitter.com/m461QDjRnU– Urban Hist (@UrbanHist_Tlse) September 27, 2021
You will learn all about the origin of street names, which sometimes appear in the Middle Ages, such as the Rouaix square for example (its name dates back to the 12th century) or the Cantegrill Street (near Place Saint-Georges), which dates from the 13th century. It is also the history of town planning in the pink city, with the appearance of the boulevards in the 18th century. A century that saw the birth of Lascrosses Boulevard (1815), the boulevard d’Arcole (1840), boulevard de strasbourg (1873) or the boulevard Carnot (1894).
Tribute to illustrious figures of the 20th century
History is written through the names of streets. This is the opportunity to pay tribute to illustrious figures who marked the 20th century. The Gabriel-Péri street (so called in 1945) owes its name to this communist deputy, executed by the Germans during the Second World War. Or avenue Jean Rieux (1947), named after the former mayor of Toulouse and deputy under the Third Republic. And what about the Alsace-Lorraine street. Opened between 1869 and 1879, this great Toulouse thoroughfare was first called longitudinal street, then Imperial Street. It was not until 1872 that it took the current name. Just after the end of the Franco-German War of 1870 … when this territory became German.
Name changes are frequent. Sometimes several times, depending on the political regimes in place. Example with the Carmes Square, so named in 1808. It was renamed seven times, becoming the Bourbon square (1815) or the Republic Square (1848) to finally resume its appellation of origin in … 1873. More recently with avenue Jacques Chirac, in tribute to the former President of the Republic who died in 2019. Until then, this artery was called boulevard des Cretes.
As we can see, this site of the municipal archives of Toulouse is a mine of information for all those who are passionate about the history of their city.
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