Des projets écartés
Cité épiscopale d’Albi
The surveyor Berbigié, previously Head of Works, was charged with proposing a general “Aligning and Embellishing plan” for Albi after 1807. He was conscious of the improvements that needed to be made; “the streets are not aligned and the houses constructed in a ridiculous fashion” he wrote. Most of his propositions were, in fact, never implemented including one which would have disfigured the Cathedral.
Berbigié proposed the demolition of the houses which encumbered the space surrounding Sainte-Cécile and crowded beside the apse, however his suggested the cleared space be used as the site for a covered market hall close beside the Cathedral. This project was suggested on a number of occasions without ever coming to fruition.
In the 1820s another project was formulated by the Tarn prefect, Joseph-Léonard Decazes (brother to Elie Decazes, a minister to the King Louis XVIII) who would later become the deputy of the region. In order to link place de la Pile with the Castelviel, he envisaged the demolition of Porte Dominique de Florence and the creation of a street along the length of the Cathedral, beneath the pillars of the baldaquin, joining up with the rue du Castelviel. This project was never pursued.
Throughout the 19th century various projects were tabled suggesting the remodelling of the central nucleus in towns with streets in a grid layout. Many included the demolition of whole districts often not sparing picturesque or historic monuments.
