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Toulouse is a city
in southwest France on the banks of the
Garonne River, half-way between the Atlantic
Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With close
to 1.1 million inhabitants in 2006, the
Toulouse metropolitan area is the fifth-largest
in France and the fastest growing in Europe.
It is the centre of the European aerospace
industry, with notably Alcatel Alenia Space,
EADS Astrium, and Galileo; and it hosts
the headquarters of Airbus S.A.S. Toulouse
was the capital of the former province
of Languedoc (provinces were abolished
during the French Revolution). It is now
the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées
région, the largest région
in metropolitan France. It is also the
préfecture (capital) of the Haute-Garonne
département.
The Capitole, the soul
of the city where the town hall can be
found, is a symbol of the architectural
heritage which led to the city being classed
an artistic and historical monument (its
220 hectares of listed buildings are the
largest in France). Tolosa, as it was called
by the Romans when they founded it in the
4th Century BC, was strongly influenced
by the Cathar tradition. An heretical,
warring mediaeval Christian sect. The construction
of the Canal du Midi under Louis XIV, listed
as a UNESCO world heritage site, linked
the Atlantic with the Mediterranean and
gave Toulouse a new momentum which built
up unceasingly over time.
The arena was opened
in 1949 as a bull ring but soon became
the home of Toulouse Football Club, who
took on a new status when they won the
French cup final in 1957. Since then the
Téfécé Violets have
not left a stadium extended in 1984 when
it won the nickname of mini Wembley. Fourteen
years later the Stadium was again renovated
for the 1998 World Cup soccer finals with
its capacity raised to 37,000 and all-round
visibility improved to a maximum. An explosion
at a nearby petro-chemical site in September
2001 forced the ground to be closed for
a year while repairs were carried out.
Rugby has always been at home at the Stadium.
The French XV played there for the first
time in 1956 with an international against
Czechoslovakia (28-3). But rugby’s
outstanding memory in the city remains
France’s two Test victories over
New Zealand, first in 1977 (18-13) and
then in 1995 (22-15). The Stadium also
hosted France’s match with Fiji in
the 1999 Rugby World Cup which they won
28-19
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