Bordeaux

Tuesday, August 14, 2010

Bordeaux

Bordeaux place de la bourse with tram


Bordeaux (French pronunciation: [bɔʁdo] ( listen); Gascon: Bordèu) is a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France.It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called Bordelais.

The city is among the world's major wine industry centres. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the eighth century. The historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.


Esplanade des Quinconces

Bordeaux is classified "City of Art and History". The city has been inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble".


Palais Gallien

Main sights include:


* Esplanade des Quinconces
* Colonnes des Girondins
* Grand Théâtre
* Allées de Tourny
* Cours de l'Intendance
* Place du Chapelet
* Pont de pierre
* Saint-André Cathedral, consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. Of the Original Romanesque edifice only a wall in the nave remain. The Royal Gate is from the early thirteenth century, while the rest of the construction is mostly from the 14th-15th centuries.


Bordeaux Saint Pierre

* Tour Pey Berland (1440–1450), a massive, quadrangular tower annexed to the cathedral.
* Église Sainte-Croix (Church of the Holy Cross). It lies on the site of a 7th century abbey destroyed by the Saracens. Rebuilt under the Carolingians, it was again destroyed by the Normans in 845 and 864. It is annexed to a Benedictine abbey founded in the 7th century, and was built in the late 11th-early 12th centuries. The façade is in Romanesque style


Palais Rohan

* The Gothic basilica of Saint-Michel, constructed in the late 14th-15th centuries.
* Basilica of Saint-Seurin, the most ancient church in Bordeaux. It was built in the early 6th century on the site of a palaeochristian necropolis. It has an eleventh century portico, while the apse and transept are from the following century. The 13th century nave has chapels from the 11th and the 14th centuries. The ancient crypt houses sepulchres of the Merovingian family.
* Palais Rohan (Exterior:[6])
* Palais Gallien, the remains of a late second century Roman amphitheatre
* Porte Cailhau
* La Grosse Cloche (15th century) is the second remaining gate of the Medieval walls. It was the belfry of the old Town Hall. It consists of two 40 m-high circular towers and a central bell tower housing a bell weighing 7,800 kilograms (17,000 lb). The watch is from 1759.


Miroir d'eau place de la Bourse

* Église Saint-Éloi
* Place de la Bourse(1730–1775), designed by the Royal architect Jacques Ange Gabriel as landscape for an equestrian statue of Louis XV.
* Place du Parlement
* Place Saint-Pierre
* Rue Sainte-Catherine
* The Betasom submarine base

Saint-André Cathedral, Saint-Michel Basilica and Saint-Seurin Basilica are part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.


Bordeaux Pont de Pierre

Contemporary architecture

* Fire Station, la Benauge, Claude Ferret/Adrien Courtois/Yves Salier, 1951–1954
* Court of first instance, Richard Rogers, 1998
* CTBA, wood and furniture research centre, A. Loisier, 1998
* Hangar 14 on the Quai des Chartrons, 1999
* The Management Science faculty on the Bastide, Anne Lacaton/Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2006
* The Jardin botanique de la Bastide, Catherine Mosbach/Françoise Hélène Jourda/Pascal Convert, 2007
* The Nuyens School complex on the Bastide, Yves Ballot/Nathalie Franck, 2007
* Seeko'o Hotel on the Quai des Chartrons, King Kong architects, 2007


Bordeaux-Notre-Dame

Museums

* Musée des Beaux Arts (Fine arts museum), one of the finest painting galleries in France
* Musée d'Aquitaine
* Musée du Vin et du Négoce
* Musée des Arts Décoratifs
* Musée d'Histoire Naturelle
* CAPC
* Musée National des Doines


Rue Sainte-Catherine


* Vinorama
* Musée Goupil
* Casa de Goya
* Cap Sciences
* Centre Jean Moulin



Musée d'Aquitaine


Parks and gardens

* Jardin botanique de Bordeaux
* Jardin botanique de la Bastide

* La Maison des Chameaux (Camel Park)