Not everyone can understand wines, but even if you are not a professional sommelier, you have undoubtedly heard about Bordeaux at least once. The birthplace of Bordeaux, which, by the way, is red, white and pink, is the name of the city located on the banks of the Garonne River and known for its winemaking traditions since the Middle Ages. If you adhere to a completely sober lifestyle, going to Aquitaine is still worth it! In their answer to the question of what to see in Bordeaux, the French will include a lot of addresses of architectural masterpieces, but the museum dedicated to winemaking will still not forget to name it among the attractions.
TOP 10 attractions of Bordeaux
Cathedral of Saint Andrew
Bordeaux Cathedral was first founded in 1096, but today little remains of its original appearance. The temple acquired its magnificent Gothic features as a result of numerous reconstructions carried out from the 12th to the 16th centuries.
It rises on Pia Bernand Square in the heart of Bordeaux. It is worth looking first of all at the luxurious external decoration - gargoyles and windows filled with stained-glass windows, openwork stone rosettes and the royal gate:
- Two bell towers rise 81 meters into the sky.
- The Gothic nave is 124 meters long.
- The organ of the temple was installed in 1812. Its height is 15 m.
- On the bell tower of Pius Berlana, attached to the cathedral, there is a bell weighing 8 tons, and on the spire there is a sculpture of Our Lady of Aquitaine.
- The belfry terrace has an observation deck. Its height is 50 m, 233 steps will help to get up to look at Bordeaux.
The most valuable relic kept in the chapel of St. Simon Stok at the church is a painting by an outstanding French painter of the 17th century. Nicola Mignara, dated 1644
Basilica of Saint Michael
In the list of the tallest churches in the country, the Basilica of Saint-Michel in Bordeaux occupies one of the first places. Its bell tower soars 114 m above the city, and the architectural style in which the church was built is called Flaming Gothic. The townspeople call the temple "an arrow", thanks to the bell tower, visible from all points of the city. Inside the tower there are 22 bells that call the parishioners to the liturgy.
The basilica was founded in the XIV century, but the construction was delayed for many years. The church itself was completed two hundred years later, the bell tower was dated to the 15th century, and the construction work was finally stopped only in the 19th century.
The Basilica of St. Michael became a historical monument back in 1846. Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to look at the magnificent medieval stained-glass windows of the temple, destroyed by the bombing of 1940.
Fortunately, all 17 chapels survived, into which the temple is divided along the perimeter. In them you can see priceless relics and masterpieces of medieval masters: an altar carved from wood in the 17th century, a sculpture of St. Catherine, patronizing sailors, and a statue of the Archangel Michael, in whose honor the basilica was consecrated.
Cayo gate
As if from the pages of novels about knights, these medieval gates in the historic center of Bordeaux descended. They are present on old maps from 1450, which shows a plan of the city. Port Cayo was given a way out of the fortress walls and "looked" towards the embankment of the Garonne.
The Cayo Gate consists of two rounded towers connected to form a single structure. The height of the landmark is 35 m, and the gate looks very impressive. The building simultaneously traces the architectural features of the Renaissance and Gothic. The gloomy years of the Middle Ages are reminiscent of defensive elements - loopholes along the entire perimeter, the lattice of the fortress gates, which is lowered in case of danger, and lucarnes. Decorated windows, a roof with turrets and bas-reliefs tell that the Renaissance was rapidly advancing. The figure of the king placed in the center of the opening above the gate proves that the structure was also used as a triumphal arch.
Big Bell Gate
Another city gate of Bordeaux is famous for its bell, which was used in especially solemn ceremonies or, on the contrary, as a signal of danger. The gate is adjacent to the Church of St. Eligius. They were mentioned in the chronicles of the XII-XIII centuries. and were pierced in the fortress wall for the passage of pilgrims walking the Way of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
The Great Bell Gate consists of two towers united into a common structure and topped with cone-shaped domes. The upper part of the gate is a bell tower built in the 15th century. The height of the architectural monument, entered in the register of historical sights of France, is 40 m. On the southern and northern facades of the gate there is a clock that appeared in the 17th century. The top of the bell tower is decorated with a weather vane in the shape of a gilded leopard.
Bolshoi Theater of Bordeaux
Among the not-so-famous architectural sights of France is the Bolshoi Theater of Bordeaux, a beautiful temple of art, where you can watch a performance of the National Opera and Ballet or listen to a concert by the National Orchestra of Bordeaux and Aquitaine.
The theater was built at the end of the 18th century. on the site of the burned down building. The project was supervised by the architect Victor Louis. The Bordeaux Theater is a magnificent example of neoclassical architecture. The rectangular pediment rests on 12 columns, above which the same number of marble statues are installed on the balustrade. The sculptures depict the nine muses and goddesses Venus, Minerva and Juno. The interiors are richly decorated with stone carvings, sculptural compositions, niches and rosettes. The railing of the main staircase is an inimitable masterpiece of hand-crafted stone.
Exchange Square
This landmark of Bordeaux is often called the "Water Mirror". Its uniqueness lies in the fact that a special spraying system, invented by hydraulic engineers, guarantees a constant layer of water on the granite slabs, a cloud of the smallest splashes and, as a result, the ability to film what is happening with the effect of reflection. The mirror of the Stock Exchange Square reflects the ancient Palace of Farms with sculptures of Mercury and Menerva on the facade, and the fountain "Three Graces", and the national museum dedicated to customs, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Hydraulic systems that bring water to the surface and 900 fine atomizers were installed in 2006 and since then this city square has become a favorite attraction for both citizens and tourists.
The system supplies water during the warm season from 10 am to 10 pm, and the rest of the day the space turns into an ordinary city square.
A stone bridge
Bordeaux stretches on both banks of the Garonne, connected by several crossings, including the Stone Bridge, which has become a landmark. He was the first to combine the historic center with the new city quarters. This happened at the beginning of the 19th century, and the order to build the crossing was given personally by Napoleon Bonaparte. The architect Claude Deschamps immortalized the name of the emperor by depicting him in stone medallions located on the pillars of the bridge.
The construction of Bordeaux's most famous crossing of the Garonne required the extraordinary skill of the builders to bring it to life. The strong current of the river in this place created a danger to life, and submariners used a diving bell when erecting supports.
The stone bridge stretches for almost half a kilometer. He is often depicted on postage stamps and postcards dedicated to Bordeaux.
Aquitaine Museum
The exposition of one of the most interesting museums in France tells about the history of Aquitaine, which began at least 25 thousand years BC. e., as evidenced by the oldest of its exhibits. It is not for nothing that the exhibition is called the Museum of Civilization, thus emphasizing the scale of the exposition and the plans of the organizers.
The emerging civilization in Aquitaine may have been witnessed by "Venus with a Horn" - the oldest stone artifact found near Bordeaux during archaeological excavations. This was followed by the era of the Iron Age, represented in the exhibition by the most ancient tools of labor. Ancient times left to descendants sculptures of ancient Roman deities and emperors, and during the birth of Christianity, marble sarcophagi appeared.
A large part of the exposition of the Museum of Aquitaine is devoted to the development of relations of its inhabitants with representatives of the peoples of Oceania, Africa and other regions of the planet. In the era of the colonial possessions of France, it was through Bordeaux that trade between the metropolis and the outskirts went.
Art Museum
Collection of works of art written in the 15th-20th centuries. and exhibited for the audience in the Roan mansion, has more than 2,000 paintings. Among the priceless masterpieces are paintings by Perugino and Titian, Rubens and Van Dyck, Renoir and Matisse.
The exposition arose after the transfer of the personal collections of the nobles to the state. This happened at the end of the French Revolution. Then the collection was replenished with new acquisitions, and now guests of the museum in Bordeaux can also look at sculpture, graphic works, drawings and sketches by the most brilliant creators of the last five centuries.
Museum of Wine and Wine Trade
According to all the laws of logic, this museum was supposed to appear in the city first, but it was opened only in 2008. The initiative of the Association of Historical Winemaking was finally embodied in the Cartesian quarter, where the wine businessmen have always lived and worked.
The mansion of the beginning of the 17th century, where the official supplier of burgundy for the court of Louis XV, lived, perfectly suited the needs of the exhibition. During a tour of the museum, you can see all the stages of the creation of Bordeaux wines: from the process of planting the vines to the shipment of finished products to merchant ships sailing all over the world.
Bordeaux wine tasting will teach you how to define the fine lines between mainstream wine and a chateau product and will help you imagine how much work it takes to put into each bottle to bring true delight to a grateful connoisseur.
