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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Monument to the Glory of the Toulouse Resistance was born from a competition launched in 1965 by Mayor Louis Bazerque, wishing a "total art" to commemorate the Liberation. Designed by the Atelier des Architectes Associés (Pierre Viatgé, Michel Bescos, Alex Labat, Pierre Debeaux), it incorporates multidisciplinary contributions: engineer Roger Tassera for the structure, composer Xavier Darasse for music, and video makers like Hubert Benita. Inaugurated on 19 August 1971 by Mayor Pierre Baudis, it marks the 27th anniversary of the Liberation of Toulouse. The monument, semi-entered under a tumulus, offers a symbolic journey through three crypts dedicated to the Deportees, Torturés and Fusillés, with audiovisual projections.

Located at the southern end of the Frédéric-Mistral driveway, facing the former Gestapo headquarters, the monument is structured around a Signal: a self-supporting sculpture by Pierre Debeaux composed of four metal masts symbolizing Equality, Fraternity, Resistance and Freedom. The route ends with the corridor of Hope, leading to the light in the garden of Plants. A solar phenomenon, now impossible because of the Earth's rotation, once illuminated a commemorative plaque at 11 a.m. on August 19, recalling the key date of 1944. The site, owned by the city, has been listed as historical monuments since August 22, 2016.

The monument combines raw concrete, pebble and vegetation to create a sensory and memorial experience. The crypts, organized in circles, gradually descend towards a corridor leading to the exit, while images projected on the walls tell the history of the Resistance. The tumulus, an artificial grassed hill, also houses an audiovisual system designed from the beginning, although the technologies have evolved since 1971. The Signal, surrounded by roses, embodies the precarious balance between oppression and freedom, the central theme of the memorial.

Ranked among the buildings labeled 20th Century Heritage in Haute-Garonne, the monument is part of a local commemorative network, including the Departmental Museum of Resistance and Deportation. Its official address, 6 aisles Frédéric-Mistral, places it in the heart of a neighborhood marked by the history of the Second World War. The accuracy of its location is estimated to be poor (level 5/10), according to available data, due to variations between sources (INSEE code 31555 for Toulouse).

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