A mediaeval counterpoint
Cité épiscopale d’Albi
The high brick tower of the Collégiale Saint-Salvi offers a striking counterpoint to the Cathedral, helping to define the landscape of Albi and to reinforce its mediaeval character.
From 940 to 1040, a time of much growth, a suburb grew up around the Collégiale Saint-Salvi, the imprint of which is still visible in the town today.
In the 10th century the church was surrounded by a ring of commercial streets called “la roda de la plassa” (the wheel of the square (in the sense of the French ’place’)). Traces of “la roda de la plassa” are still clearly visible and it is now referred to as the ’wheel of Saint-Salvi.’
