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Castres / France

Castres ; Castras in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan) is a commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Occitanie region in southern France. It lies in the former French province of Languedoc. Castres is the fourth-largest industrial centre of the predominantly rural Midi-Pyrénées région and the largest in that part of Languedoc lying between Toulouse and Montpellier. Castres is noted for being the birthplace of the famous socialist leader Jean Jaurès and home to the important Goya Museum of Spanish painting.

Goya Museum

Castres / France

The Goya Museum is an art museum located in Castres, France. It is named after the Spanish painter Francisco Goya and has the largest collection of Spanish paintings in France, with works by Goya, Zurbarán, Velázquez, Murillo, and Ribera. The museum was originally established in 1840 and has 28,000 visitors annually. The museum is located in the old Bishop's Palace, which was built in 1675 and is based on the design of Jules Hardouin Mansart, who was an architect of the Palace of Versailles. The gardens were designed by André Le Nôtre, who also worked at Versailles. In 1947, it became the only museum of Spanish paintings from the 14th/15th century onwards in France.