By the 12th century the Occitanian civilisation covered South of France,North East Spain and North West Italy.
It linked the provinces of Languedoc,Aquitaine,Gascony,Auvergne,Limousin,Dauphine,Catalonia and the valleys in the Italian Alps. Diverse because of their geographical situation, they still have the same characteristics today: as border-crossing points, they have welcomed successive civilizations, opening the minds, broadening horizons and ways of thinking. At the beginning of the 12th century Toulouse was a European city enjoying the same prestige of Venice or Marseille.
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