Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine (; in Occitan: carrièra d'Alsacia-Lorena) is a road in Toulouse, capital of the Occitania, in the South of France.
It is one of the main routes in Toulouse. Like , it is the city's main shopping street. It is also, with and , one of the main Haussmann arteries of the Ville Rose.
Location and access
Description Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine is located on the border between the and districts, to the west, and and , to the east, all in sector 1 - Center.
It extends over one kilometer in a straight line facing due north. It arises in the extension of at , at the entrance to the . (nearest metro station: Esquirol, line A).
At the height of the Musée des Augustins, it receives on its right side the and borders the east side of the ; she then becomes a pedestrian. It gives rise on its right side to and receives on the opposite side. It crosses perpendicularly, before receiving on its left side; it crosses before giving birth on the right to then to .
At the level of which it borders on its eastern side, it crosses and (nearest metro station: , line A).
After receiving on its left side it crosses then which is entirely pedestrian. After giving rise to on its right side, it receives and becomes accessible to car traffic again. It ends after reaching , boulevard de Strasbourg (nearest metro station: Jeanne-d’Arc, line B).
Routes encountered Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine meets the following roads, in the order of increasing numbers (« L » indicates that the street is on the left, « R » on the right):
(L) (R) Rue du Sac (L) (L) (R) (L) (R)
(L)
(R) (L)
(L)
(L)
(L) (R) (L) Boulevard de Strasbourg
Odonymy
In the first development projects of , the street is simply designated as Rue Longitudinale – it is the longitudinal breakthrough, with a north–south orientation, as opposed to the Transversal breakthrough, with an east–west orientation (current ). But this name was only provisional. On November 26, 1872, the municipal council of decided to name it in honor of Alsace-Lorraine, the two provinces lost following the Franco-German War of 1870 and the disastrous Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871.
History
Contemporary period Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine was opened between 1869 and 1873, as part of work proposed by and approved by the municipal council by one vote.
Under the mandate of Mayor , in 1864, various urban projects were proposed with the aim of restructuring the city center, mainly by creating new traffic routes. On March 24, 1864, the project of the chief engineer of Bridges and Roads, , was the last one retained by the Municipal Council. The latter was based on the ideas already proposed by the Capitouls in 1776. It provided for the creation of two large streets 15 meters wide with buildings not exceeding 17.5 meters in height and 8 meters for the extension into the adjacent streets. These two axes were to constitute the new main traffic axes of the city. The first major street, first known as Rue Transversale, would then take the name Rue de Metz. The second street which is perpendicular to it, Rue Longitudinale, will subsequently take the name Rue Alsace-Lorraine on November 26, 1872, by decision of the Municipal Council. This name echoes contemporary events, since it refers to Alsace and Lorraine, two territories which were lost by France in 1871.
The implementation of this project led to numerous expropriations, since it required drilling through the moulons (neighboring houses delimited by street crossings) in the heart of a very dense urban fabric.
As for financing, Mayor Campaigno received help from the Belgian Land Bank which provided the necessary funds.
Despite strong opposition to this project, particularly from the population, the project was still implemented and approved by Imperial decree on June 17, 1868.
The development project began in 1868 with the first land purchases and expropriations. The first houses were built in 1871 on rue Alsace-Lorraine, but it was not until 1878 that the first building on this street was completed. The roadways were completed in 1873.
All these buildings, designed above all for the report, introduced to Toulouse the notion of living in apartments, which was not very widespread before this period. Large stores were planned on all the ground floors of these buildings, which had the effect of attracting luxury businesses.
During the Occupation, the German HVS 564 main liaison staff responsible for administering the occupied territory stayed at the Grand Hôtel de la Poste located at 38 of this street. Today, this building is the headquarters of the Consulate of the Republic of Slovenia.
Rue d'Alsace-Lorraine underwent town planning work in 2007 in preparation for Toulouse's hosting of the 2007 Rugby World Cup and then again in 2012, to become pedestrianized over almost its entire length, from the rue Bayard to .
Heritage and places of interest
Musée des Augustins
Classified MH (1840, former Augustinian convent), Listed MH (1990, 19th century wing) and Classified MH (2018, all the buildings making up the Musée des Augustins).
The Musée des Augustins is the municipal museum of fine arts. It occupies the buildings of the former Augustinian convent.
Consular Palace A Hôtel particulier was built in the middle of the 17th century for Jean Baptiste de Ciron, lord of Carmaux and president of the parliament of Toulouse. In 1742, it passed to two members of the , but ten years later it was sold to Count Joseph de Fumel, then, in 1769, it was purchased by the municipality and extensively remodeled to become the residence of the first presidents of the parliament. The French Revolution brought upheavals: in 1790, the parliament was abolished and the town ceded the hotel to the Directory of the department, which left it in November 1799 to settle in the . Consequently, three years later, following the Concordat, the hotel was assigned to the accommodation of the new . But a century later, in December 1906, under the law of separation, the Hôtel de l'Archevêché was decommissioned, then sold to the city's which took possession of it in 1913.
The consular palace is made up of several buildings between rue d'Alsace-Lorraine (current n°2) and (current n°6), facing . In 1921, the architects Barthélémy Guitard and were responsible for the construction of a new building along rue d'Alsace-Lorraine, in order to accommodate shops on the ground floor, two apartments on the mezzanine and a « commercial museum » upstairs. In 1936, the building was extended to the south over three bays, covering the facade of the former Ciron-Fumel hotel. The facade, in neo-classical style, is a pastiche of 18th century Toulouse architecture, playing on the polychromy of cut stone and brick. It extends over ten bays and rises over three levels – ground floor, mezzanine and one floor. The ground floor is pierced by large shop openings which alternate with narrower openings. The entrance doors are located in the side bays. The mezzanine and upper floor are lit by rectangular windows, highlighted by a cut stone frame. The windows on the 1st floor have balconies with balusters, supported by heavy carved consoles. They are topped with sculpted friezes and the frame has a clasp loaded with a large volute. The elevation is crowned with a large cornice with dentils and modillions, topped by a balustrade.
Department stores
n°28: La Maison Universelle department store. n°37-39: Monoprix department store. The Monoprix brand, created in Rouen in 1932 by Max Heilbronn, opened a large store in 1934 in Toulouse on (locations of current n°54 and 56). Gradually, the store was expanded by the acquisition of neighboring buildings on rue d'Alsace-Lorraine (locations of current n°37 and 39) and rue de la Pomme (locations of current no°52 and 58 to 62). The construction of a new store was entrusted in 1963 to architects Noël Le Maresquier and Paul de Noyers. The building, in a modern style, rises at the crossroads of rue de la Pomme, forming an acute angle. The facades, almost blind, are covered with a red brick facing. The 2nd floor is opened by four small square windows. The 3rd floor is lit by a continuous strip of windows, highlighted by a protruding frame. The 5th and 6th floors, coated, are set back from the plumb line of the facade.
n°37-39: Au Capitole department store. The Au Capitole department store was built between 1903 and 1904 by the compan, to the plans of the architect , in the Art Nouveau style. In 1984, the Galeries Lafayette group took over the building. The store closed its doors in 2013 and the building was sold to the Primark group, which opened its Toulouse store in 2018. The building is characteristic of constructions from the beginning of the 20th century, with an exposed cast-iron architecture and light brick filling. Georges Debrie, however, respects the forms of Toulouse neoclassical architecture, with an alternation of narrow rectangular openings and wider basket-handle openings. The elevation is thus punctuated by the bays of the doors, highlighted on the ground floor and the mezzanine by the brick bossing and crowned by large medallions sculpted in stone, surrounded by garlands of flowers and leaves and masks. The three large metal basket-handle arches join the intermediate bays. They are intersected by cast iron columns. The elevation is crowned by a broken cornice with modillions. Inside, the architect uses the possibilities offered by the metal architecture to free up a vast central space, covered by a glass dome, which illuminates the heart of the building. The double ramp staircase provides access to the upper levels. An elevator was added, then an escalator, the first in the city when it was installed.
Buildings
n°14: Grand Hôtel Tivollier.A traveler hotel was built between 1872 and 1873 to the plans of Isidore Villamur on behalf of Auguste Tivollier. The building stands at the corner of . It houses a hotel, equipped with all modern comforts: 52 rooms, a restaurant, lounges, heating by heater, hydraulic elevator, electric bells connected to the reception. The basement is occupied by the Tivollier pâté factory, the shop being on the ground floor. In 1904, the hotel was closed by Emmanuel Tivollier, son and successor of Auguste, who opened the Grand-Hôtel et Tivollier in association with the Société des Grands Hôtels in (current n°31). Only the pâté shop remained until 1964. The eclectic architecture, in the Haussmann style, developed in a rigorous manner. The facade is symmetrical, with the three central bays projecting slightly. The ground floor and the mezzanine are joined by large rectangular openings. On the upper floors, the windows have stone balconies with guardrails: simple balconies on the 1st floor, continuous balconies resting on consoles on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The attic level is covered by a roof with long pitched slate and zinc roofs. It is pierced by dormer windows with a stone frame surmounted by a curvilinear pediment. At the crossroads of rue Baour-Lormian, the cut corner concentrates most of the ornamentation. The ground floor and mezzanine are joined by a semi-circular shop arcade. It has preserved its molded doorframe and a clasp which supports a frame, supported by laurel branches and framed by two nymphs holding a gabled scepter and a bunch of grapes. On the 1st floor, the window has a molded jamb, a stone baluster railing and a carved clasp. It is framed by two sheathed atlanteans, which support the balustered balcony of the 2nd floor.