The Couvent des Jacobins is the great red-brick convent of the Dominican friars in central Toulouse, the city where Saint Dominic founded his order in 1215. Its church is a soaring double nave of slender columns, ending in a single pillar that fans out 22 ribs to hold the vault: the famous 'palm tree'. It also holds the relics of Thomas Aquinas, brought here in 1369.
Les Jacobins at a glance
- Where: Rue Lakanal / Place des Jacobins, in the old centre between the Capitole and the Garonne.
- Built: from 1230, enlarged and vaulted in stages until the mid-14th century.
- What it is today: a deconsecrated church and cloister owned by the city of Toulouse and run as a museum site.
- Who lies here: the relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas, in a reliquary under the high altar.
- Time needed: 45 minutes to an hour for the church, cloister, chapter house and Saint Antonin chapel.
A preachers' church that kept growing
In the early 13th century Languedoc was a stronghold of Catharism, which the Catholic Church condemned as heresy. Saint Dominic gathered a small community of preachers in Toulouse in 1215 to combat it, and in 1230 the friars began a simple brick church with two naves, one for the friars and one for the public. Over the next hundred years it was lengthened, raised and vaulted, and a seven-storey bell tower was added, turning it into one of the defining buildings of the southern French Gothic style: built of brick, very tall, with almost no decoration.
After the French Revolution the Dominicans were expelled, and in 1810 Napoleon turned the church into a barracks. Floors were inserted to make dormitories, horses were stabled below, the stained glass was lost and the medieval paintings were whitewashed. The army left in 1861, and a long restoration through the 20th century removed the floors, reopened the windows and uncovered the painted decoration. The relics of Thomas Aquinas, which had been moved to Saint-Sernin during the Revolution, returned in 1974.
What to look for
- The Palm Tree: the last column in the choir, from which 22 ribs spread across the vault like the fronds of a palm.
- The row of columns: seven slender pillars, each about 28 metres high, run down the middle of the church and divide it into two naves.
- The tomb of Thomas Aquinas: a modern gilded reliquary under the altar holding the remains of the great theologian.
- The stained glass: bright 20th-century windows by Max Ingrand that colour the brick walls in the afternoon light.
- The cloister: a quiet square garden surrounded by slender paired columns, with the chapter house and the Saint Antonin chapel off it.
Why 'Jacobins'?
The name has nothing to do with the revolutionary club of the 1790s, at least not directly. In medieval France the Dominicans were nicknamed Jacobins because their first house in Paris was on the Rue Saint-Jacques. During the Revolution, a political club met in the former Dominican convent in Paris and became known as the Jacobin Club, which is how the word took on its later meaning.
Tips for your visit
- Stand at the foot of the Palm Tree and look straight up; then walk to the back of the church to see the whole line of columns at once.
- Visit in the afternoon, when the sun comes through the western windows and lights up the coloured glass.
- Look out for concerts in the cloister and the church, such as those of the Piano aux Jacobins festival.
Nearby
- Le Capitole: Toulouse's city hall on its huge square, with painted halls open to visitors, a few minutes' walk away.
- Basilica of Saint-Sernin: one of the largest Romanesque churches in Europe, about ten minutes' walk north.
- Hôtel d'Assézat: a Renaissance mansion of brick and stone, home to the Bemberg Foundation's art collection, near the Garonne.
See Toulouse with World City Trail
Our Toulouse scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 45 minutes of walking, and it includes places such as the Basilica of Saint-Sernin and the Musée Saint-Raymond.
If you prefer a different format, Toulouse also has a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game.
Play the Toulouse scavenger hunt →
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Facts checked in October 2026.