Toulouse owes its brilliant architectural heritage to the pastel merchants like Jean de Bernuy or Pierre d’Assézat.
Rich and powerful, their success leaded them to keep up a fierce competition over the precious «Pastel Flower» : who will build the most beautiful home and the tallest house tower.
Therefore, Toulouse counts over 70 private mansions, most of them built during the 17th Century as the Hôtel de Bernuy, the Hôtel d’Assézat and the Hôtel du Vieux Raisin preserved from urban life and noises thanks to private interior courtyards.
