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Demographically, the Lauragais was heavily populated until the first war. The war announced the end of this peasant region and the occitane dialect with it. It was only in the sixties and the seventies that the Lauragais boomed again this time due to the fact of being under the influence of the Toulouse metropolis.
Woad, 1,5 metres high, smooth and slim leaves is of course one of these plants. It was at one point contributing towards the international commercial boom. Woad's golden years where between 1462 and 1562 when enormous fortunes where made, marking local architecture (notably by the building of the castle's of the "princes of woad", big international business men from Albi and Toulouse). Water has a very important part to play in the Lauragais, being an agricultural region. The Canal du Midi, a monument opened in 1681 and today part of humanity's world heritage classified by UNESCO, is an exceptional tourist attraction.A But the Lauragais isn't only a tourist or agricultural region it's also industrial ; traditional industries such as brick factories around Castelnaudary, the cooper works at Durfort or the furniture workshops at Revel ; modern industries such as Labège Innopole which as created thousands of jobs in the last decade. The Lauragais has preserved a living trace of it's prestigious past : fortified towns, Cathar houses, discoid steles, woad castles, all landmarks in time and space. We shall try and help you discover the history and the riches of the Lauragais in the following "Couleur Lauragais".
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The
Lauragais economical activity is highlighted by a particular rich agriculture.
This was symbolised by the famous Cocagne country where before highly
productive plants made the region's fortune.