Montauban Ingres' hometown

Montauban

Montauban, D.Viet / CRT Occitanie

Musée Ingres Bourdelle

Musée Ingres Bourdelle, Musée Ingres Bourdelle

La place Nationale

La place Nationale, D.Viet / CRT Occitanie

Les arcades de la place Nationale

Les arcades de la place Nationale, ADT Tarn et Garonne

Why visit Montauban?

  • Home to master artists, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Antoine Bourdelle.
  • A top Occitania site approved as a Pays d’Art et d’Histoire.
  • Unspoilt natural surroundings on the Tarn River.
Cartographie Montauban

The best view of Montauban

From the Tarn

Head to the Pont Vieux bridge in Montauban. Its arches have spanned the Tarn since the Middle Ages. This is where the town looks its best and shows off its orange brick architecture.

Right bank: the former bishop's palace housing the Ingres Museum, Natural History Museum, Saint-Jacques Church and former convents along the docks.
Left bank: mansions. They serve as a reminder that Montauban was home to wealthy traders despite its past as a Protestant safe zone which earned it the wrath of Louis XIII.

Montauban

Montauban, D.Viet / CRT Occitanie

Great ideas for Montauban

Head to Montauban #GrandSiteOccitanie and explore this pink city of bricks, water and nature. Itinerary recommended by 100Taur, an artist.

Original

Montauban rebelled against Catholic authority and was besieged in 1621 by the royal army which it resisted gloriously. You can see the traces of cannonballs on Saint-Jacques Church at the bottom of the belltower!

Place Nationale

Soak up the local lifestyle

Get the feel of Montauban at Place Nationale. Surrounded by double arcades, this splendid square with an Italian feel is still the beating heart of the town. A century before the bastide's heyday, the town was built on a checkerboard layout around this square in 1144.

The pedestrian streets around it lead you to little boutiques and food shops taking you past ornate entrances to luxury mansions teeming with architectural details that reflect Montauban's rich heritage.

La place Nationale

La place Nationale, D.Viet / CRT Occitanie

Ingres-Bourdelle museum

The must-do

The Ingres-Bourdelle museum showcases two illustrious Montalbanese: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Antoine Bourdelle.

Ingres was born in Montauban in 1780 and is a master of French Classicism. The sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, one of Rodin's students, was also born here in 1861.

Enlarged, modernized, digitalized ... the museum is today spread over 2,700 m2 with new spaces, enhanced accessibility, a new museography, a sumptuous conservation cabinet housing Ingres ' drawings, an entire floor dedicated to the Bourdelle's work, magnificent rooms for temporary exhibitions, a tea room, bookshop, ...

Ingres : autoportrait

Ingres : autoportrait

Our favourite

Vist the Saturday market in the Allées du Consul Dupuy. Stock up on local produce in the shade of the plane trees in a land bursting with apples, cherries, Chasselas de Moissac AOC grapes, Quercy melons and more.
 

Le canal de Montech à Montauban

Le canal de Montech à Montauban, CRT Occitanie_Patrice THEBAULT

The town on the water's edge

Port side and canal side

A 20 min walk from the town centre takes you to the Canal Port, Montauban's marina: a haven of peace where locals and tourists get together to enjoy nature. Read a book under the trees, walk along the banks, have a drink as you watch the boats come and go... The Tarn on one side... and the Montech Canal on the other linking to the Canal des Deux Mers in 11km and 11 locks! A lovely bike ride (bike hire at the port) along a green path on the former towpath. 

Tarn cruise

See Montauban through fresh eyes

Take a guided cruise or permit-free boat trip through Ingres' town, duck under its 6 bridges then head off to experience the untamed Tarn and its biodiversity. The Tarn is teeming with fish and attracts countless bird species. Open your eyes! You may meet grey herons, egrets and kingfishers on your way.

Le Tarn à Montauban

Le Tarn à Montauban

How to get there

Montauban is the capital of the Tarn-et-Garonne 45km north of Toulouse.

  • By car: on the A62 (Bordeaux – Toulouse) or the A20 (Paris – Toulouse).
  • By plane: from Toulouse Blagnac International Airport. Montauban/Blagnac shuttle buses take you to and from the airport.
  • By train: Montauban is in the middle of railway lines for Bordeaux / Nice and Paris / Toulouse / Spain. There are countless connections from Montauban to Toulouse every day. It takes 4 hrs 45 mins to reach Paris by TGV train.
  • By boat: from the Canal des Deux Mers take the Montech Canal to Montauban Port.

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