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Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river
Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...
in the Gironde
department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...
region, as well as the
prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called ''"Bordelais"'' (masculine) or ''"Bordelaises"'' (feminine). The term "Bordelais" may also refer to the city and its surrounding region. The city of Bordeaux proper had a population of 260,958 in 2019 within its small municipal territory of , With its 27 suburban municipalities it forms the Bordeaux Metropolis, in charge of metropolitan issues. With a population of 814,049 at the Jan. 2019 census. it is the fifth most populated in France, after Paris,
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...
, Marseille and
Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...
and ahead of Toulouse. Together with its suburbs and exurbs, except satellite cities of
Arcachon Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for i ...
and
Libourne Libourne (; oc, label= Gascon, Liborna ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Ém ...
, the Bordeaux metropolitan area had a population of 1,363,711 that same year (Jan. 2019 census), making it the sixth most populated in France, after Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, and Toulouse. Bordeaux is a world capital of wine: many castles and vineyards stand on the hillsides of the Gironde, and the city is home to the world's main wine fair,
Vinexpo Vinexpo is one of the largest exhibitions for wine and spirits professionals from all over the world, held in Bordeaux in uneven years. The first event dates back to year 1981 gathering 524 exhibitors from 21 countries 11,000 professional visitors f ...
. Bordeaux is also one of the centers of gastronomy and business tourism for the organization of international congresses. It is a central and strategic hub for the aeronautics, military and space sector, home to international companies such as Dassault Aviation,
Ariane Group ArianeGroup (formerly Airbus Safran Launchers) is an aerospace company based in France. A joint venture between Airbus and Safran, the company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux. It consists of three core arms: aero ...
,
Safran Safran S.A. is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures aircraft engines, rocket engines as well as various aerospace and defense-related equipment or their components. It was formed by a merger between SNECMA and ...
and Thalès. The link with aviation dates back to 1910, the year the first airplane flew over the city. A crossroads of knowledge through university research, it is home to one of the only two megajoule lasers in the world, as well as a university population of more than 130,000 students within the Bordeaux Metropolis. Bordeaux is an international tourist destination for its architectural and cultural heritage with more than 350 historic monuments, making it, after Paris, the city with the most listed or registered monuments in France. The "''Pearl of Aquitaine''" has been voted European Destination of the year in a 2015 online poll. The metropolis has also received awards and rankings by international organizations such as in 1957, Bordeaux was awarded the Europe Prize for its efforts in transmitting the European ideal. In June 2007, the
Port of the Moon The ''Port de la Lune'' (Port of the Moon) is the name given to the harbour of Bordeaux, dating to the Middle Ages, because of the shape of the river crossing the city. It is represented by a crescent on the coat of arms of Bordeaux, and by three ...
in historic Bordeaux was inscribed on the UNESCO
World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, for its outstanding architecture and urban ensemble and in recognition of Bordeaux's international importance over the last 2000 years. Bordeaux is also ranked as a Sufficiency city by the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershir ...
.


History


5th century BC to 11th century AD

Around 300 BC, the region was the settlement of a
Celtic tribe Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia ** Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
, the
Bituriges Vivisci The Bituriges Vivisci (Gaulish: ''Biturīges Uiuisci'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling near modern-day Bordeaux during the Roman period. They had a homonym tribe, the Bituriges Cubi in the Berry region, which could indicate a common origin, althou ...
, named the town Burdigala, probably of Aquitanian origin. In 107 BC, the
Battle of Burdigala The Battle of Burdigala (the Roman name for Bordeaux, with stress on the 'i') was a battle of the Cimbrian War that occurred in the year 107 BC. The battle was fought between a combined Germanic-Celtic army including the Helvetian Tigurini und ...
was fought by the Romans who were defending the
Allobroges The Allobroges (Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; grc, Ἀλλοβρίγων, Ἀλλόβριγες) were a Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period. ...
, a
Gallic tribe The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They spo ...
allied to Rome, and the
Tigurini The Tigurini were a clan or tribe forming one out of four '' pagi'' (provinces) of the Helvetii. The Tigurini were the most important group of the Helvetii, mentioned by both Julius Caesar and Poseidonius, settling in the area of what is now the ...
led by
Divico Divico was a Celtic king and the leader of the Helvetian tribe of the Tigurini. During the Cimbrian War, in which the Cimbri and Teutons invaded the Roman Republic, he led the Tigurini across the Rhine to invade Gaul in 109 BC. He defeated a Rom ...
. The Romans were defeated and their commander, the
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in battle. The city came under
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
rule around 60 BC, and it became an important commercial centre for tin and lead. During this period were built the amphitheatre and the monument ''Les Piliers de Tutelle''. File:Bordeaux - Pilliers de Tutelle.jpg, ''Les Piliers de Tutelle'' File:Bordeaux - Palais Gallien 2.jpg, The Roman amphitheatre In 276, it was sacked by the Vandals. The Vandals attacked again in 409, followed by the
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
in 414, and the Franks in 498, and afterwards the city fell into a period of relative obscurity. In the late sixth century the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian
kingdom of the Franks Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
, but royal Frankish power was never strong. The city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585 Gallactorius was made
Count of Bordeaux The Count of Bordeaux (Latin ''comes Burdagalensis'') was the ruler of the city of Bordeaux and its environs in the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. The names of the counts are scarcely known until the ninth century, when they start to take on ...
and fought the Basques. In 732, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman who stormed the fortifications and overwhelmed the Aquitanian garrison. Duke Eudes mustered a force to engage the Umayyads, eventually engaging them in the
Battle of the River Garonne The Battle of the River Garonne, also known as the Battle of Bordeaux,Matthew Bennett ''The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare'' 1579581161 1998 p319 "In 732 a large army of (70,000-80,000) men led by Abd ar-Rahman defeated the Aq ...
somewhere near the river Dordogne. The battle had a high death toll, and although Eudes was defeated he had enough troops to engage in the
Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a French army commanded by King JohnII and an Anglo- Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, south of Poiti ...
and so retain his grip on Aquitaine. In 737, following his father Eudes's death, the Aquitanian duke Hunald led a rebellion to which Charles responded by launching an expedition that captured Bordeaux. However, it was not retained for long, during the following year the Frankish commander clashed in battle with the Aquitanians but then left to take on hostile Burgundian authorities and magnates. In 745 Aquitaine faced another expedition where Charles's sons Pepin and Carloman challenged Hunald's power and defeated him. Hunald's son Waifer replaced him and confirmed Bordeaux as the capital city (along with Bourges in the north). During the last stage of the war against Aquitaine (760–768), it was one of Waifer's last important strongholds to fall to the troops of King Pepin the Short. Charlemagne built the fortress of Fronsac (''Frontiacus'', ''Franciacus'') near Bordeaux on a hill across the border with the Basques (''Wascones''), where Basque commanders came and pledged their loyalty (769). In 778, Seguin (or Sihimin) was appointed count of Bordeaux, probably undermining the power of the Duke Lupo, and possibly leading to the
Battle of Roncevaux Pass The Battle of Roncevaux Pass ( French and English spelling, ''Roncesvalles'' in Spanish, ''Orreaga'' in Basque) in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne's army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on ...
. In 814, Seguin was made Duke of
Vasconia The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia ( eu, Baskoniako dukerria; oc, ducat de Gasconha; french: duché de Gascogne, duché de Vasconie) was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the ...
, but was deposed in 816 for failing to suppress a Basque rebellion. Under the
Carolingians The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...
, sometimes the Counts of Bordeaux held the title concomitantly with that of Duke of Vasconia. They were to keep the Basques in check and defend the mouth of the Garonne from the Vikings when they appeared in c. 844. In Autumn 845, the Vikings were raiding Bordeaux and Saintes, count Seguin II marched on them but was captured and executed. Although the port of Bordeaux was a buzzing trade center, the stability and success of the city was threatened by Viking and Norman incursions and political instability. The restoration of the
Ramnulfid The Ramnulfids, or the House of Poitiers, were a French dynasty ruling the County of Poitou and Duchy of Aquitaine in the 9th through 12th centuries. Their power base shifted from Toulouse to Poitou. In the early 10th century, they contested t ...
Dukes of Aquitaine The Duke of Aquitaine ( oc, Duc d'Aquitània, french: Duc d'Aquitaine, ) was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine (not to be confused with modern-day Aquitaine) under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings. As suc ...
under
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded ...
and his successors (known as the
House of Poitiers The Ramnulfids, or the House of Poitiers, were a French dynasty ruling the County of Poitou and Duchy of Aquitaine in the 9th through 12th centuries. Their power base shifted from Toulouse to Poitou. In the early 10th century, they contested th ...
) brought continuity of government.


12th century to 15th century, the English era

From the 12th to the 15th century, Bordeaux flourished once more following the marriage of Eléonore, Duchess of
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janua ...
and the last of the
House of Poitiers The Ramnulfids, or the House of Poitiers, were a French dynasty ruling the County of Poitou and Duchy of Aquitaine in the 9th through 12th centuries. Their power base shifted from Toulouse to Poitou. In the early 10th century, they contested th ...
, to Henry II Plantagenêt,
Count of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by Charles the Bald in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the title of Count of Anjou. The Robertian ...
and the grandson of Henry I of England, who succeeded to the English crown months after their wedding, bringing into being the vast
Angevin Empire The Angevin Empire (; french: Empire Plantagenêt) describes the possessions of the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and W ...
, which stretched from the Pyrenees to Ireland. After granting a tax-free trade status with England, Henry was adored by the locals as they could be even more profitable in the wine trade, their main source of income, and the city benefited from imports of cloth and wheat. The belfry (Grosse Cloche) and city cathedral St-André were built, the latter in 1227, incorporating the artisan quarter of Saint-Paul. Under the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny it became briefly the capital of an independent state (1362–1372) under Edward, the Black Prince, but after the
Battle of Castillon The Battle of Castillon between the forces of England and France took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille). Historians regard this decisive French victory as marking the end ...
(1453) it was annexed by France.


15th century to 17th century

In 1462, Bordeaux created a local parliament. Bordeaux adhered to the Fronde, being effectively annexed to the Kingdom of France only in 1653, when the army of Louis XIV entered the city.


18th century, the golden era

The 18th century saw another golden age of Bordeaux. The
Port of the Moon The ''Port de la Lune'' (Port of the Moon) is the name given to the harbour of Bordeaux, dating to the Middle Ages, because of the shape of the river crossing the city. It is represented by a crescent on the coat of arms of Bordeaux, and by three ...
supplied the majority of Europe with coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton and indigo, becoming France's busiest port and the second busiest port in the world after London. Many downtown buildings (about 5,000), including those on the quays, are from this period. Bordeaux was also a major trading centre for slaves. In total, the Bordeaux shipowners deported 150,000 Africans in some 500 expeditions.


French Revolution: political disruption and loss of the most profitable colony

At the beginning of the French Revolution (1789), many local revolutionaries were members of the Girondists. This Party represented the provincial bourgeoisie, favorable towards abolishing aristocracy privileges, but opposed to the Revolution's social dimension. In 1793, the Montagnards led by Robespierre and Marat came to power. Fearing a bourgeois misappropriation of the Revolution, they executed a great number of Girondists. During the purge, the local Montagnard Section renamed the city of Bordeaux "Commune-Franklin" (Franklin-municipality) in homage to
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
. At the same time, in 1791, a
slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freed ...
broke out at Saint-Domingue (current Haiti), the most profitable of the French colonies. Three years later, the Montagnard Convention abolished slavery. In 1802, Napoleon revoked the manumission law but lost the war against the army of former slaves. In 1804, Haiti became independent. The loss of this "Pearl" of the West Indies generated the collapse of Bordeaux's port economy, which was dependent on the colonial trade and trade in slaves. Towards the end of the Peninsular War of 1814, the Duke of Wellington sent William Beresford with two divisions and seized Bordeaux, encountering little resistance. Bordeaux was largely anti-
Bonapartist Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...
and the majority supported the
Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...
. The British troops were treated as liberators.


19th century, rebirth of the economy

From the
Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...
, the economy of Bordeaux was rebuilt by traders and shipowners. They engaged to construct the first bridge of Bordeaux, and customs warehouses. The shipping traffic grew through the new African colonies. Georges-Eugène Haussmann, a longtime prefect of Bordeaux, used Bordeaux's 18th-century large-scale rebuilding as a model when he was asked by Emperor Napoleon III to transform the quasi-medieval Paris into a "modern" capital that would make France proud. Victor Hugo found the town so beautiful he said: "Take Versailles, add
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
, and you have Bordeaux". In 1870, at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war against
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
, the French government temporarily relocated to Bordeaux from Paris. That recurred during World War I and again very briefly during World War II, when it became clear that Paris would fall into German hands.


20th century

During World War II, Bordeaux fell under
German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
. In May and June 1940, Bordeaux was the site of the life-saving actions of the Portuguese consul-general,
Aristides de Sousa Mendes Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches () GCC, OL (July 19, 1885 – April 3, 1954) was a Portuguese consul during World War II. As the Portuguese consul-general in the French city of Bordeaux, he defied the orders of Antóni ...
, who illegally granted thousands of Portuguese visas, which were needed to pass the Spanish border, to refugees fleeing the German occupation. From 1941 to 1943, the
Italian Royal Navy The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ( ...
established
BETASOM BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines participa ...
, a submarine base at Bordeaux. Italian submarines participated in the
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockad ...
from that base, which was also a major base for German
U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...
as headquarters of
12th U-boat Flotilla The 12th U-boat Flotilla ( German ''12. Unterseebootsflottille'') was a German U-boat flotilla formed on 15 October 1942 at Bordeaux under the command of ''Korvettenkapitän () is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-spea ...
. The massive, reinforced concrete U-boat pens have proved impractical to demolish and are now partly used as a cultural center for exhibitions.


21st century, listed as World heritage

In 2007, 40% of the city surface area, located around the
Port of the Moon The ''Port de la Lune'' (Port of the Moon) is the name given to the harbour of Bordeaux, dating to the Middle Ages, because of the shape of the river crossing the city. It is represented by a crescent on the coat of arms of Bordeaux, and by three ...
, was listed as World heritage sites. Unesco inscribed Bordeaux as "an inhabited historic city, an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the age of the Enlightenment, whose values continued up to the first half of the 20th century, with more protected buildings than any other French city except Paris".


Geography

Bordeaux is located close to the European Atlantic coast, in the southwest of France and in the north of the Aquitaine region. It is around southwest of Paris. The city is built on a bend of the river Garonne, and is divided into two parts: the right bank to the east and left bank in the west. Historically the left bank is more developed because when flowing outside the bend, the water makes a furrow of the required depth to allow the passing of merchant ships, which used to offload on this side of the river. But, today, the right bank is developing, including new urban projects. In Bordeaux, the Garonne River is accessible to ocean liners through the
Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Ga ...
. The right bank of the Garonne is a low-lying, often marshy plain.


Climate

Bordeaux's climate was last officially classified as a temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''), although in more recent temperature records, from 1991 to 2020, it has warmed to become a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). In the
Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppe ...
system it was classified as temperate oceanic or ''Do'' climate, but more recent temperature numbers have shown it to have eight months greater than and classify it as subtropical (''Cf''). Winters are cool because of the prevalence of westerly winds from the Atlantic. Summers are warm and long due to the influence from the Bay of Biscay (surface temperature reaches ). The average seasonal winter temperature is , but recent winters have been warmer than this. Frosts in the winter occur several times during a winter, but snowfall is very rare, occurring only once every three years. The average summer seasonal temperature is . The summer of 2003 set a record with an average temperature of . February 1956 was the coldest month on record with an average temperature of −2.00 °C at Bordeaux Mérignac-Airport.


Economy

Bordeaux is a major centre for business in France as it has the sixth largest metropolitan population in France. It serves as a major regional center for trade, administration, services and industry.


Wine

The vine was introduced to the Bordeaux region by the Romans, probably in the mid-first century, to provide wine for local consumption, and wine production has been continuous in the region since. Bordeaux wine growing area has about of vineyards, 57
appellations An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...
, 10,000 wine-producing estates (châteaux) and 13,000 grape growers. With an annual production of approximately 960 million bottles, the Bordeaux area produces large quantities of everyday wine as well as some of the most expensive wines in the world. Included among the latter are the area's five ''premier cru'' ( First Growth) red wines (four from
Médoc The Médoc (; oc, label= Gascon, Medòc ) is a region of France, well known as a wine growing region, located in the ''département'' of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux. Its name comes from ''( Pagus) Medu ...
and one,
Château Haut-Brion Château Haut-Brion () is a French wine, rated a ''Premier Grand Cru Classé'' ( First Great Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of ...
, from Graves), established by the
Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from ...
: Both red and
white wines White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. Wh ...
are made in the Bordeaux region. Red Bordeaux wine is called
claret Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...
in the United Kingdom. Red wines are generally made from a blend of grapes, and may be made from
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Leban ...
, Merlot,
Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being use ...
, Petit verdot, Malbec, and, less commonly in recent years,
Carménère The Carménère grape is a wine grape variety originally planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France, where it was used to produce deep red wines and occasionally used for blending purposes in the same manner as Petit Verdot. A member o ...
. White Bordeaux is made from Sauvignon blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle. Sauternes is a sub-region of Graves known for its intensely sweet, white, dessert wines such as
Château d'Yquem Château d'Yquem () is a '' Premier Cru Supérieur'' ( Fr: "Superior First Growth") wine from the Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the Bordeaux vineyards known as Graves. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Ch� ...
. Because of a wine glut (
wine lake The wine lake refers to a perceived overproduction of wine in the European Union, particularly around 2005–2007. The EU's Common Agricultural Policy contained a number of subsidies for wine producers, leading to a supply glut; this surplus forc ...
) in the generic production, the price squeeze induced by an increasingly strong international competition, and
vine pull schemes Vine pull schemes are programs whereby grape growers receive a financial incentive to pull up their grape vines, a process known as ''arrachage'' in French. A large program of this kind was initiated by the European Union ( EU) in 1988 to reduce ...
, the number of growers has recently dropped from 14,000 and the area under vine has also decreased significantly. In the meantime, the global demand for first growths and the most famous labels markedly increased and their prices skyrocketed. The
Cité du Vin The Cité du Vin is a museum as well as a place of exhibitions, shows, movie projections and academic seminars on the theme of wine located in Bordeaux, France. Construction Architects The architects were Anouk Legendre and Nicholas Desmazi ...
, a museum as well as a place of exhibitions, shows, movie projections and
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...
s on the theme of wine opened its doors in June 2016.


Others

The Laser Mégajoule will be one of the most powerful lasers in the world, allowing
fundamental research Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied researc ...
and the development of the
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...
and plasma technologies. Some 20,000 people work for the aeronautic industry in Bordeaux. The city has some of the biggest companies including
Dassault Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son Se ...
, EADS Sogerma, Snecma,
Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him ...
, SNPE, and others. The
Dassault Falcon The Dassault Falcon is a family of business jets, manufactured by Dassault Aviation. July 2017 saw the 2,500th Falcon delivered – a Falcon 900LX – since the first Falcon 20 was handed over to a customer in 1965. The fleet has accumula ...
private jets are built there as well as the military aircraft
Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...
and
Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (''Ar ...
, the
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that ena ...
, the boosters of
Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads into ...
, and the M51 SLBM missile. Tourism, especially
wine tourism Enotourism, oenotourism, wine tourism, or vinitourism refers to tourism whose purpose is or includes the tasting, consumption or purchase of wine, often at or near the source. Where other types of tourism are often passive in nature, enotourism ca ...
, is a major industry. Globelink.co.uk mentioned Bordeaux as the best tourist destination in Europe in 2015. Access to the port from the Atlantic is via the
Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Ga ...
. Almost nine million tonnes of goods arrive and leave each year.


Major companies

This list includes indigenous Bordeaux-based companies and companies that have major presence in Bordeaux, but are not necessarily headquartered there. *
Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
* Groupe Bernard *
Groupe Castel Castel Group (French Groupe Castel) is a French beverage company. It was established in 1949 by Pierre Castel, who continues to run the company as a family-owned concern. Castel is the largest French wine producer and owns the biggest French an ...
*
Cdiscount Cdiscount is the third largest (behind amazon.fr and veepee.fr) French e-commerce website with products such as electronics, household appliances and food. In 2013, Cdiscount was the most important French e-commerce website in terms of turnover ...
*
Dassault Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son Se ...
* Jock *
Marie Brizard Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...
*
McKesson Corporation McKesson Corporation is an American company distributing pharmaceuticals and providing health information technology, medical supplies, and care management tools. The company delivers a third of all pharmaceuticals used in North America and emplo ...
*
Oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term " oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meander in a river ...
*
Ricard Ricard is a surname, as well as a Catalan name. Notable people with the surname include: * Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard (1771–1843), French general under Napoleon * Hámilton Ricard (born 1974), Colombian footballer *Jean-François Ricard (bo ...
*
Sanofi Aventis Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Sy ...
*
Smurfit Kappa The Smurfit Kappa Group plc is Europe's leading corrugated packaging company and one of the leading paper-based packaging companies in the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The co ...
* Snecma *
Solectron Solectron Corporation was an electronics manufacturing company for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It was the first electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry in 1977. Solectron's first customer designed and distributed an electro ...
* Thales Group


Population

In January 2019, there were 260,958 inhabitants in the city proper (commune) of Bordeaux. The commune (including Caudéran which was annexed by Bordeaux in 1965) had its largest population of 284,494 at the 1954 census. The majority of the population is French, but there are sizable groups of Italians,
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...
(Up to 20% of the Bordeaux population claim some degree of Spanish heritage),
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
, Turks, Germans. The built-up area has grown for more than a century beyond the municipal borders of Bordeaux due to the small size of the commune () and urban sprawl, so that by January 2019 there were 1,363,711 people living in the overall metropolitan area (''aire d'attraction'') of Bordeaux, only a fifth of whom lived in the city proper. Largest communities of foreigners :


Politics


Municipal administration

The Mayor of the city is the environmentalist
Pierre Hurmic Pierre Hurmic (born 10 April 1955) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Bordeaux since 2020. A member of Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV), he was first elected to the municipal council of Bordeaux in 1995. In 2020, he defeated incumben ...
. Bordeaux is the capital of five cantons and the Prefecture of the Gironde and
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janua ...
. The town is divided into three districts, the first three of Gironde. The headquarters of Urban Community of Bordeaux Mériadeck is located in the neighbourhood and the city is at the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry that bears his name. The number of inhabitants of Bordeaux is greater than 250,000 and less than 299,999 so the number of municipal councilors is 65. They are divided according to the following composition:


Mayors of Bordeaux

Since the
Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...
(1944), there have been 6 mayors of Bordeaux: * RPR was renamed to UMP in 2002 which was later renamed to LR in 2015


Elections


Presidential elections of 2007

At the 2007 presidential election, the Bordelais gave 31.37% of their votes to
Ségolène Royal Marie-Ségolène Royal (; born 22 September 1953) is a French politician who was the Socialist Party candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election. Royal was president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council from 2004 to 20 ...
of the Socialist Party against 30.84% to Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the UMP. Then came François Bayrou with 22.01%, followed by
Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...
who recorded 5.42%. None of the other candidates exceeded the 5% mark. Nationally, Nicolas Sarkozy led with 31.18%, then Ségolène Royal with 25.87%, followed by François Bayrou with 18.57%. After these came Jean-Marie Le Pen with 10.44%, none of the other candidates exceeded the 5% mark. In the second round, the city of Bordeaux gave Ségolène Royal 52.44% against 47.56% for Nicolas Sarkozy, the latter being elected President of the Republic with 53.06% against 46.94% for Ségolène Royal. The abstention rates for Bordeaux were 14.52% in the first round and 15.90% in the second round.


Parliamentary elections of 2007

In the parliamentary elections of 2007, the left won eight constituencies against only three for the right. It should be added that after the partial 2008 elections, the eighth district of Gironde switched to the left, bringing the count to nine. In Bordeaux, the left was for the first time in its history the majority as it held two of three constituencies following the elections. In the first division of the Gironde, the outgoing UMP MP Chantal Bourragué was well ahead with 44.81% against 25.39% for the Socialist candidate Beatrice Desaigues. In the second round, it was Chantal Bourragué who was re-elected with 54.45% against 45.55% for his socialist opponent. In the second district of Gironde the UMP mayor and all new Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the cou ...
confronted the General Counsel PS Michèle Delaunay. In the first round, Alain Juppé was well ahead with 43.73% against 31.36% for Michèle Delaunay. In the second round, it was finally Michèle Delaunay who won the election with 50.93% of the votes against 49.07% for Alain Juppé, the margin being only 670 votes. The defeat of the so-called constituency "Mayor" showed that Bordeaux was rocking increasingly left. Finally, in the third constituency of the Gironde, Noël Mamère was well ahead with 39.82% against 28.42% for the UMP candidate Elizabeth Vine. In the second round, Noël Mamère was re-elected with 62.82% against 37.18% for his right-wing rival.


Municipal elections of 2008

In 2008 municipal elections saw the clash between mayor of Bordeaux, Alain Juppé and the President of the Regional Council of Aquitaine Socialist
Alain Rousset Alain Rousset (born 16 February 1951) is the Socialist president of the Aquitaine region of France, and a Deputy in the National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower ...
. The PS had put up a Socialist heavyweight in the Gironde and had put great hopes in this election after the victory of Ségolène Royal and Michèle Delaunay in 2007. However, after a rather exciting campaign it was Alain Juppé who was widely elected in the first round with 56.62%, far ahead of Alain Rousset who has managed to get 34.14%. At present, of the eight cantons that has Bordeaux, five are held by the PS and three by the UMP, the left eating a little each time into the right's numbers.


European elections of 2009

In the European elections of 2009, Bordeaux voters largely voted for the UMP candidate Dominique Baudis, who won 31.54% against 15.00% for PS candidate Kader Arif. The candidate of Europe Ecology José Bové came second with 22.34%. None of the other candidates reached the 10% mark. The 2009 European elections were like the previous ones in eight constituencies. Bordeaux is located in the district "Southwest", here are the results: UMP candidate Dominique Baudis: 26.89%. His party gained four seats. PS candidate Kader Arif: 17.79%, gaining two seats in the European Parliament. Europe Ecology candidate Bove: 15.83%, obtaining two seats. MoDem candidate Robert Rochefort: 8.61%, winning a seat. Left Front candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon: 8.16%, gaining the last seat. At regional elections in 2010, the Socialist incumbent president Alain Rousset won the first round by totaling 35.19% in Bordeaux, but this score was lower than the plan for Gironde and Aquitaine. Xavier Darcos, Minister of Labour followed with 28.40% of the votes, scoring above the regional and departmental average. Then came Monique De Marco, Green candidate with 13.40%, followed by the member of Pyrenees-Atlantiques and candidate of the MoDem Jean Lassalle who registered a low 6.78% while qualifying to the second round on the whole Aquitaine, closely followed by Jacques Colombier, candidate of the National Front, who gained 6.48%. Finally the candidate of the Left Front Gérard Boulanger with 5.64%, no other candidate above the 5% mark. In the second round, Alain Rousset had a tidal wave win as national totals rose to 55.83%. If Xavier Darcos largely lost the election, he nevertheless achieved a score above the regional and departmental average obtaining 33.40%. Jean Lassalle, who qualified for the second round, passed the 10% mark by totaling 10.77%. The ballot was marked by abstention amounting to 55.51% in the first round and 53.59% in the second round. ''Only candidates obtaining more than 5% are listed''


2017 elections

Bordeaux voted for Emmanuel Macron in the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...
. In the 2017 parliamentary election, La République En Marche! won most of the constituencies in Bordeaux.


2019 European elections

Bordeaux voted in the
2019 European Parliament election in France The 2019 European Parliament election in France were held on 26 May 2019 (and on 25 May in parts of overseas France and for some nationals abroad), electing members of the 9th French delegation to the European Parliament as part of the elections ...
.


Municipal elections of 2020

After 73 years of right-of-centre rule, the ecologist Pierre Hurmic ( EELV) came in ahead of Nicolas Florian ( LR/ LaREM).


Parliamentary representation

The city area is represented by the following
constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
: Gironde's 1st, Gironde's 2nd, Gironde's 3rd, Gironde's 4th, Gironde's 5th, Gironde's 6th, Gironde's 7th.


Education


University

During Antiquity, a first university had been created by the Romans in 286. The city was an important administrative centre and the new university had to train administrators. Only rhetoric and grammar were taught.
Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala in Aquitaine, modern Bordeaux, France. For a time he was tutor to the future emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. ...
and
Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Se ...
were two of the teachers. In 1441, when Bordeaux was an English town, the Pope Eugene IV created a university by demand of the archbishop
Pey Berland Blessed Pey Berland (or ''Peyberland'', from ''Pierre Berland''; c. 1380 – January 1458) was the Archbishop of Bordeaux from 1430 until his abdication, during a pivotal time in the history of the city and of Gascony. During his tenure, th ...
. In 1793, during the French Revolution, the National Convention abolished the university, and replace them with the
École centrale The Ecoles Centrales Group is an alliance, consisting of following grandes écoles of engineering: * CentraleSupélec (formed by merger of École Centrale Paris and Supélec) established in 2015 * École centrale de Lille established in 1854 * � ...
in 1796. In Bordeaux, this one was located in the former buildings of the college of Guyenne. In 1808, the university reappeared with Napoleon. Bordeaux accommodates approximately 70,000 students on one of the largest campuses of Europe (235 ha). The University of Bordeaux is divided into four: *The University Bordeaux 1, (Maths, Physical sciences and Technologies), 10,693 students in 2002 *The University Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux Segalen (Medicine and Life sciences), 15,038 students in 2002 *The University Bordeaux 3, Michel de Montaigne ( Liberal arts, Humanities, Languages, History), 14,785 students in 2002 *The University Bordeaux 4, Montesquieu (Law, Economy and Management), 12,556 students in 2002 * Institut of Political Sciences of Bordeaux. Although technically a part of the fourth university, it largely functions autonomously.


Schools

Bordeaux has numerous public and private schools offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Engineering schools: *
Arts et Métiers ParisTech Arts et Métiers ParisTech is a French engineering and research institute of higher education. It is a ''grande école'', recognized for leading in the fields of mechanics and industrialization. Founded in 1780, it is among the oldest French ins ...
, graduate school of industrial and mechanical engineering *
ESME-Sudria The École Spéciale de Mécanique et d'Electricité (English: Special School of Mechanics and Electricity), also known as ESME Sudria is a French private grande école founded in 1905. It is a part of the IONIS Education Group. Founded in ''19 ...
, graduate school of engineering *École d'ingénieurs en modélisation mathématique et mécanique *École nationale supérieure d'électronique, informatique, télécommunications, mathématique et mécanique de Bordeaux (ENSEIRB-MATMECA) *École supérieure de technologie des biomolécules de Bordeaux * École nationale supérieure des sciences agronomiques de Bordeaux Aquitaine * École nationale supérieure de chimie et physique de Bordeaux *
École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies The Paris Graduate School of Digital Innovation (french: École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies, or EPITECH), formerly European Institute of Information Technology, is a private institution of higher education in computer scie ...
*Institut des sciences et techniques des aliments de Bordeaux * Institut de cognitique *École supérieure d'informatique * École privée des sciences informatiques Business and management schools: *The Bordeaux MBA (International College of Bordeaux) *IUT Techniques de Commercialisation of Bordeaux (business school) * INSEEC Business School ( Institut des hautes études économiques et commerciales) *
KEDGE Business School KEDGE Business School is a triple accredited (AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA) French business school and grande école. The school was founded in 2013 from the merger of two grandes écoles: Bordeaux Ecole de Management (ESC Bordeaux), founded in 1874 ...
(former BEM – Bordeaux Management School) *Vatel Bordeaux International Business School *
E-Artsup E-Artsup is a French private school created in 2001 and specialized in digital creativity and multimedia. The school is located at Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, Montpellier, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille and is part of IONIS Education Group. ...
*
Institut supérieur européen de gestion group The Institut supérieur européen de gestion group (ISEG group, French for Advanced European Institute of Management) is a group of two business schools, ''ISEG Marketing & Communication School'' and ''ISG Programme Business & Management'', the f ...
*
Institut supérieur européen de formation par l'action The Institut supérieur européen de formation par l'action (ISEFAC) is a French private business school created in 2000. Located at Paris, Lille, Nice, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, and Brussels, the school provides two courses: ISEFAC Bachelor and ...
Other: * ''École nationale de la magistrature'' (National school for the judiciary) * * * (EFAP) * (CNAM) * (law school)


Weekend education

The ''École Compleméntaire Japonaise de Bordeaux'' (ボルドー日本語補習授業校 ''Borudō Nihongo Hoshū Jugyō Kō''), a part-time Japanese supplementary school, is held in the ''Salle de L'Athénée Municipal'' in Bordeaux.欧州の補習授業校一覧(平成25年4月15日現在)


.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community. ...
(MEXT). Retrieved on 10 May 2014. "Salle de L'Athénée Municipal Place St. Christoly, 33000 Bordeaux, FRANCE"


Main sights


Heritage and architecture

Bordeaux is classified "City of Art and History". The city is home to 362 ''
monuments historiques ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...
'' (only Paris has more in France) with some buildings dating back to Roman times. Bordeaux,
Port of the Moon The ''Port de la Lune'' (Port of the Moon) is the name given to the harbour of Bordeaux, dating to the Middle Ages, because of the shape of the river crossing the city. It is represented by a crescent on the coat of arms of Bordeaux, and by three ...
, has been inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List as ''"an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble"''. Bordeaux is home to one of Europe's biggest 18th-century architectural urban areas, making it a sought-after destination for tourists and cinema production crews. It stands out as one of the first French cities, after Nancy, to have entered an era of
urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and m ...
and metropolitan big scale projects, with the team Gabriel father and son, architects for King Louis XV, under the supervision of two intendants (Governors), first
Nicolas-François Dupré de Saint-Maur Nicolas-François Dupré de Saint-Maur (1695, Paris – 30 November 1774) was a French economist and statistician. Biography From a family of jurists and financial figures, he was the son of a correcteur in the Chambre des comptes and cousin of J ...
then the Marquis de Tourny. 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. The organ in
Saint-Louis-des-Chartrons The Church of Saint-Louis-des-Chartrons is a Roman Catholic church located in Bordeaux, France. It is a gothic revival church dedicated to Saint Louis, king of France (1214–1270). History and description Saint-Louis Church was built betw ...
is registered on the French
monuments historiques ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...
.


Buildings

Main sights include: * '' Place de la Bourse'' (1735–1755), designed by the Royal architect
Jacques Gabriel Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ove ...
as landscape for an equestrian statue of Louis XV, now replaced by the ''Fountain of the Three Graces''. * '' Grand Théâtre'' (1780), a large neoclassical theater built in the 18th century. * ''Allées de Tourny'' * ''Cours de l'Intendance'' * ''Place du Chapelet'' * ''Place du Parlement'' * ''
Place des Quinconces The Place des Quinconces, located in Bordeaux, France, is among the largest city squares in Europe (approximately 63 ac or 25.6 ha). It was laid out in 1820 on the site of Château Trompette and was intended to prevent rebellion against the cit ...
'', the largest square in France. * ''Monument aux Girondins'' * ''Place Saint-Pierre'' *'' Pont de pierre (1822)'' * '' Saint Andrew's Cathedral'', consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. Of the original Romanesque edifice only a wall in the nave remains. The Royal Gate is from the early 13th century, while the rest of the construction is mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries. * '' Tour Pey-Berland'' (1440–1450), a massive, quadrangular Gothic tower annexed to the cathedral. * '' Église Sainte-Croix'' (Church of the Holy Cross). It lies on the site of a seventh-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 seventh century, and was built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The façade is in
Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...
* The Gothic ''
Basilica of Saint Michael The Basilica of Saint Michael ( sq, Bazilika e Shën Mëhillit) is a former basilica dedicated to Saint Michael, located in Arapaj, Durrës. Its ruins have been declared a Cultural Monument of Albania. The Basilica of Saint Michael is an early Pal ...
'', constructed between the end of the 14th century and the 16th century. * Basilica of Saint Severinus, the most ancient church in Bordeaux. It was built in the early sixth century on the site of a palaeochristian necropolis. It has an 11th-century portico, while the
apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
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. * ''Église Saint-Pierre'', gothic church * ''Église Saint-Éloi'', gothic church * ''Église Saint-Bruno'', baroque church decorated with frescoes * ''Église Notre-Dame'', baroque church * ''Église Saint-Paul-Saint-François-Xavier'', baroque church * '' Palais Rohan'', former mansion of the archbishop, now city hall * ''Palais Gallien'', the remains of a late second-century
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
* ''Porte Cailhau'', a medieval gatehouse of the old city walls. * ''La Grosse Cloche'' (15th century), the second remaining gate of the Medieval walls. It was the belfry of the old Town Hall. It consists of two circular towers and a central
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...
housing a
bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...
weighing . The watch is from 1759. * '' Grande Synagogue'', completed 1882 * '' Rue Sainte-Catherine'', the longest pedestrian street of France * ''Darwin ecosystem'', alternative place into former military barracks * The
BETASOM BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines participa ...
submarine base File:Le Palais Gallien vestige gallo-romain à Bordeaux.jpg, Remains of the Roman amphitheatre File:Cathédrale St André Bordeaux 3.jpg, Saint Andrew's Cathedral File:Bordeaux Porte Cailhau R02.jpg, Porte Cailhau File:Grand Théâtre Bordeaux.jpg, Grand Théâtre File:Bordeaux Notre-Dame R01.jpg, the church Notre Dame File:151 - Le Pont de Pierre - Bordeaux.jpg, Pont de Pierre File:Bordeaux - Basilique Saint-Michel - Vue générale.jpg,
Basilica of Saint Michael The Basilica of Saint Michael ( sq, Bazilika e Shën Mëhillit) is a former basilica dedicated to Saint Michael, located in Arapaj, Durrës. Its ruins have been declared a Cultural Monument of Albania. The Basilica of Saint Michael is an early Pal ...
File:Puerta de Burdeos.JPG, Grosse cloche File:026 - Hôtel de ville Place Pey-Berland - Bordeaux.jpg, Palais Rohan (town hall) File:FacadeSainteCroixBordeauxsoir.jpg, Église Sainte-Croix File:Bordeaux Place du Parlement R01.jpg, Place du Parlement File:Synagogue Bx 5.jpg, The Grand Synagogue File:Façades de deux ouvrages Art Déco du Quartier Lescure (Bordeaux).jpg, Facades of the
Art déco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
district File:Darwin - Magasin général.jpg, Darwin district File:Basesousmarine.JPG, Submarine Pen


Contemporary architecture

* ''Cité Frugès'', district of
Pessac Pessac (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest suburb of Bordeaux and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to ...
, built by Le Corbusier, 1924–1926, listed as UNESCO heritage *Fire Station, ''la Benauge'', Claude Ferret/Adrien Courtois/Yves Salier, 1951–1954 *Mériadeck district, 1960-70's *''
Court of first instance A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...
'',
Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Pa ...
, 1998 *CTBA, wood and furniture research center, 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 de Bacalan, King Kong architects, 2007 * Matmut Atlantique stadium, Herzog & de Meuron, 2015 *
Cité du Vin The Cité du Vin is a museum as well as a place of exhibitions, shows, movie projections and academic seminars on the theme of wine located in Bordeaux, France. Construction Architects The architects were Anouk Legendre and Nicholas Desmazi ...
, XTU architects, Anouk Legendre & Nicolas Desmazières, 2016 *
MECA ''mecA'' is a gene found in bacterial cells which allows them to be resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin and other penicillin-like antibiotics. The bacteria strain most commonly known to carry ''mecA'' is methicillin-resista ...
, Maison de l'Economie Créative et de la culture de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine,
Bjarke Ingels Bjarke Bundgaard Ingels (; born 2 October 1974) is a Danish architect, founder and creative partner of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). In Denmark, Ingels became well known after designing two housing complexes in Ørestad: VM Houses and Mountain Dw ...
, 2019 File:Bordeaux Meriadeck.JPG, Mériadeck district File:Bordeaux Palais de Justice 23.JPG, Court of first instance File:Seeko'o Hotel, Bordeaux, July 2014 (03).JPG, Seeko'o hotel File:Cite du vin Bordeaux 2017 (37500642606).jpg,
Cité du Vin The Cité du Vin is a museum as well as a place of exhibitions, shows, movie projections and academic seminars on the theme of wine located in Bordeaux, France. Construction Architects The architects were Anouk Legendre and Nicholas Desmazi ...
File:RB 20200222 Bordeaux-11.jpg,
MECA ''mecA'' is a gene found in bacterial cells which allows them to be resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin and other penicillin-like antibiotics. The bacteria strain most commonly known to carry ''mecA'' is methicillin-resista ...


Museums

* ''Musée des Beaux-Arts'' (''Fine arts museum''), one of the finest painting galleries in France with paintings by painter such as Tiziano,
Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian chees ...
, Rubens,
Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...
,
Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...
,
Claude Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
,
Chardin Chardin is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, (1699–1779), French painter noted for his still life works * Jean Chardin, (1643–1713), French jeweller and traveller, author of ''The Trave ...
, Delacroix, Renoir,
Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough sur ...
,
Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of ...
,
Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primar ...
and Picasso. *''
Musée d'Aquitaine The Museum of Aquitaine (French language, French: ''Musée d'Aquitaine'') is a collection of objects and documents from the history of Bordeaux and Aquitaine. History In the 16th century, the site of the Musée d'Aquitaine housed the convent o ...
'' (archeological and history museum) *''Musée du Vin et du Négoce'' (museum of the wine trade) *'' Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design'' (museum of decorative arts and design) *''Musée d'Histoire Naturelle'' (natural history museum) *''Musée Mer Marine'' (Sea and Navy museum) *''
Cité du Vin The Cité du Vin is a museum as well as a place of exhibitions, shows, movie projections and academic seminars on the theme of wine located in Bordeaux, France. Construction Architects The architects were Anouk Legendre and Nicholas Desmazi ...
'' *''
CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux, formerly the Centre d'arts plastiques contemporains (CAPC), is a museum of modern art established in 1973 in Bordeaux, France. Building The museum is housed in the ''Entrepôt Lainé'', a former warehou ...
'' (modern art museum) *''
Musée national des douanes The Musée national des douanes is a national museum on the history of French customs located at Place de la Bourse in the city of Bordeaux, France. The building was built in the 18th century to receive the new ''Ferme générale The ''ferme g ...
'' (history of French customs) *''Bordeaux Patrimoine Mondial'' (architectural and heritage interpretation centre) *''Musée d'ethnologie'' (ethnology museum) *''Institut culturel
Bernard Magrez Bernard Magrez, born 1936, is a French wine magnate who predominantly owns Bordeaux wine estates, including Château La Tour Carnet, Château Pape Clément, Château Fombrauge and Clos Haut-Peyraguey but also a large number of wine producing prope ...
'', modern and streetart museum into an 18th-century mansion *Cervantez Institute (into the house of Goya) * ''Cap Sciences'' *''Centre Jean Moulin'' File:Beaux arts bordeaux.jpg, ''Musée des Beaux-Arts'' File:Musée Aquitaine.JPG, ''
Musée d'Aquitaine The Museum of Aquitaine (French language, French: ''Musée d'Aquitaine'') is a collection of objects and documents from the history of Bordeaux and Aquitaine. History In the 16th century, the site of the Musée d'Aquitaine housed the convent o ...
'' File:Hôtel de Lalande - Musée des arts décoratifs et du design de Bordeaux.jpg, '' Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design'' File:CAPC janvier 2018.jpg, ''
CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux, formerly the Centre d'arts plastiques contemporains (CAPC), is a museum of modern art established in 1973 in Bordeaux, France. Building The museum is housed in the ''Entrepôt Lainé'', a former warehou ...
'' File:Musée du vin et du négoce de Bordeaux (3).jpg, ''Musée du vin et du négoce de Bordeaux''


Memory of slavery

Slavery was part of a growing drive for the city. Firstly, during the 18th and 19th centuries, Bordeaux was an important slave port, which saw some 500 slave expeditions that cause the deportation of 150,000 Africans by Bordeaux shipowners. Secondly, even though the " Triangular trade" represented only 5% of Bordeaux's wealth, the city's direct trade with the Caribbean, that accounted for the other 95%, concerns the colonial stuffs made by the slave (sugar, coffee, cocoa). And thirdly, in that same period, a major migratory movement by Aquitanians took place to the Caribbean colonies, with Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) being the most popular destination. 40% of the white population of the island came from
Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janua ...
. They prospered with plantations incomes, until the first slave revolts which concluded in 1848 in the final abolition of slavery in France. A statue of Modeste Testas, an Ethiopian woman who was enslaved by the Bordeaux-based Testas brothers was unveiled in 2019. She was trafficked by them from West Africa, to Philadelphia (where one of the brother coerced her to have two children by him) and was ultimately freed and lived in Haiti. The bronze sculpture was created by the Haitian artists Woodly Caymitte. A number of traces and memorial sites are visible in the city. Moreover, in May 2009, the Museum of Aquitaine opened the spaces dedicated to "Bordeaux in the 18th century, trans-Atlantic trading and slavery". This work, richly illustrated with original documents, contributes to disseminate the state of knowledge on this question, presenting above all the facts and their chronology. The region of Bordeaux was also the land of several prominent
abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...
, as
Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...
, Laffon de Ladébat and Elisée Reclus. Others were members of the
Society of the Friends of the Blacks The Society of the Friends of the Blacks (''Société des amis des Noirs'' or ''Amis des noirs'') was a French abolitionist society founded during the late 18th century. The society's aim was to abolish both the institution of slavery in the F ...
as the revolutionaries Boyer-Fonfrède, Gensonné, Guadet and Ducos. File:Bordeaux place de la Bourse mascaron visage africain.JPG, African face mascaron on the place de la Bourse. File:Détail de la fresque du Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux.jpg, Allegory of Bordeaux and her wealth, including two African slaves, ceiling of the Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux. File:Salles consacrées à l'esclavage au Musée d'Aquitaine, Bordeaux.jpg, Spaces dedicaded to slave trade,
Musée d'Aquitaine The Museum of Aquitaine (French language, French: ''Musée d'Aquitaine'') is a collection of objects and documents from the history of Bordeaux and Aquitaine. History In the 16th century, the site of the Musée d'Aquitaine housed the convent o ...
. File:Statue-fétiche Fon-Musée d'Aquitaine (1).jpg, Fon fetish,
Musée d'Aquitaine The Museum of Aquitaine (French language, French: ''Musée d'Aquitaine'') is a collection of objects and documents from the history of Bordeaux and Aquitaine. History In the 16th century, the site of the Musée d'Aquitaine housed the convent o ...
. File:Buste en bronze de Toussaint Louverture, Bordeaux.jpg, Bronze bust of
Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...
. File:Statue de Modeste Testas, quai des Chartrons, Bordeaux.jpg, Bronze Statue of Modeste Testas, Ethiopian woman enslaved by two Bordeaux plantation owners.


Parks and gardens

*'' Jardin public de Bordeaux'', with inside the '' Jardin botanique de Bordeaux'' *'' Jardin botanique de la Bastide'' *''Parc bordelais'' *''Parc aux Angéliques'' *''Jardin des Lumières'' *''Parc Rivière'' *''Parc Floral'' File:Bordeaux Jardin Public R02.jpg, ''Jardin public'' File:Jardin botanique de Bordeaux 7.jpg, ''Jardin botanique'' File:Bordeaux Quai Louis XVIII R01.jpg, ''Jardin des Lumières'' File:Parc floral de Bordeaux 3298.jpg, ''Parc floral'', Casablanca pavilion


Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas

Europe's longest-span vertical-lift bridge, the
Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas The Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas is a vertical-lift bridge over the Garonne in Bordeaux, France. It was inaugurated on 16 March 2013 by President François Hollande and Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politic ...
, was opened in 2013 in Bordeaux, spanning the River Garonne. The central lift span is and can be lifted vertically up to to let tall ships pass underneath. The €160 million bridge was inaugurated by President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
and Mayor Alain Juppé on 16 March 2013. The bridge was named after the late Jacques Chaban-Delmas, who was a former Prime Minister and Mayor of Bordeaux.


Shopping

Bordeaux has many shopping options. In the heart of Bordeaux is '' Rue Sainte-Catherine''. This pedestrian-only shopping street has of shops, restaurants and cafés; it is also one of the longest shopping streets in Europe. ''Rue Sainte-Catherine'' starts at ''Place de la Victoire'' and ends at ''Place de la Comédie'' by the ''Grand Théâtre''. The shops become progressively more upmarket as one moves towards ''Place de la Comédie'' and the nearby ''Cours de l'Intendance'' is where one finds the more exclusive shops and boutiques.


Culture

Bordeaux is also the first city in France to have created, in the 1980s, an architecture exhibition and research centre, '' Arc en rêve''. Bordeaux offers a large number of cinemas, theatres, and is the home of the
Opéra national de Bordeaux This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...
. There are many music venues of varying capacity. The city also offers several festivals throughout the year. In October 2021, Bordeaux was shortlisted for the European Commission's 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism award along with Copenhagen, Dublin, Florence, Ljubljana, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia. File:GrandTheatreBordeaux2.jpg, ''
Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux The Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux is an opera house in Bordeaux, France, first inaugurated on 17 April 1780. It was in this theatre that the ballet ''La fille mal gardée'' premiered in 1789, and where a young Marius Petipa staged some of his firs ...
'' File:Bordeaux - Théâtre Femina.jpg, ''Théâtre Femina'' File:RB 20200222 Bordeaux-11.jpg, ''MECA, Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine''


Transport


Road

Bordeaux is an important road and motorway junction. The city is connected to Paris by the A10 motorway, with Lyon by the A89, with Toulouse by the A62, and with Spain by the A63. There is a
ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
called the " Rocade" which is often very busy. Another ring road is under consideration. Bordeaux has five road bridges that cross the
Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...
, the Pont de pierre built in the 1820s and three modern bridges built after 1960: the Pont Saint Jean, just south of the Pont de pierre (both located downtown), the
Pont d'Aquitaine The Pont d'Aquitaine is a large suspension bridge over the Garonne, north-west of the city of Bordeaux, in France. It forms part of the ring-road of Bordeaux and carries the A630 autoroute. It was completed in 1967 and its main span is long. Th ...
, a suspension bridge downstream from downtown, and the Pont François Mitterrand, located upstream of downtown. These two bridges are part of the ring-road around Bordeaux. A fifth bridge, the Pont Jacques-Chaban-Delmas, was constructed in 2009–2012 and opened to traffic in March 2013. Located halfway between the Pont de pierre and the Pont d'Aquitaine and serving downtown rather than highway traffic, it is a vertical-lift bridge with a height in closed position comparable to that of Pont de pierre, and to the Pont d'Aquitaine when open. All five road bridges, including the two highway bridges, are open to cyclists and pedestrians as well. Another bridge, the Pont Jean-Jacques Bosc, is to be built in 2018. Lacking any steep hills, Bordeaux is relatively friendly to cyclists. Cycle paths (separate from the roadways) exist on the highway bridges, along the riverfront, on the university campuses, and incidentally elsewhere in the city. Cycle lanes and
bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...
s that explicitly allow cyclists exist on many of the city's boulevards. A paid
bicycle-sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bo ...
with automated stations was established in 2010.


Rail

The main railway station,
Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean Bordeaux-Saint-Jean ( oc, Bordèu Sent Joan, link=no) or formerly Bordeaux-Midi is the main railway station in the French city of Bordeaux. It is the southern terminus of the Paris–Bordeaux railway, and the western terminus of the Chemins de ...
, near the center of the city, has 12 million passengers a year. It is served by the French national ( SNCF) railway's high speed train, the
TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
, that gets to Paris in two hours, with connections to major European centers such as
Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...
, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Geneva and London. The TGV also serves Toulouse and Irun (Spain) from Bordeaux. A regular train service is provided to
Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
, Nice, Marseille and
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...
. The Gare Saint-Jean is the major hub for regional trains (
TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno o ...
) operated by the SNCF to
Arcachon Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for i ...
,
Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated on the first western foothi ...
,
Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department of ...
,
Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also ...
, Langon, Pau, Le Médoc, Angoulême and
Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitain ...
. Historically the train line used to terminate at a station on the right bank of the river Garonne near the Pont de Pierre, and passengers crossed the bridge to get into the city. Subsequently, a double-track steel railway bridge was constructed in the 1850s, by
Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...
, to bring trains across the river direct into Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean. The old station was later converted and in 2010 comprised a cinema and restaurants. The two-track Eiffel bridge with a speed limit of became a bottleneck and a new bridge was built, opening in 2009. The new bridge has four tracks and allows trains to pass at . During the planning there was much lobbying by the Eiffel family and other supporters to preserve the old bridge as a footbridge across the Garonne, with possibly a museum to document the history of the bridge and Gustave Eiffel's contribution. The decision was taken to save the bridge, but by early 2010 no plans had been announced as to its future use. The bridge remains intact, but unused and without any means of access. Since July 2017, the
LGV Sud Europe Atlantique The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (LGV SEA), also known as the LGV Sud-Ouest or LGV L'Océane, is a high-speed railway line between Tours and Bordeaux, in France. It is used by TGV trains operated by SNCF. It is an extension of the LGV Atlantique. ...
is fully operational and makes Bordeaux city 2h04 from Paris.


Air

Bordeaux is served by
Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Bordeaux-Mérignac) is the international airport of Bordeaux, in south-western France. It is situated in the ''commune'' of Mérignac, west of Bordeaux, within the ''département' ...
, located from the city centre in the suburban city of Mérignac.


Trams, buses and boats

Bordeaux has an important public transport system called
Transports Bordeaux Métropole Transports Bordeaux Métropole (or TBM, formerly Tram et bus de la CUB, or TBC) is a public transport system for the 28 ''communes'' of Bordeaux Métropole. It also provides service to part of the ''commune'' of Cadaujac Cadaujac () is a com ...
(TBM). This company is run by the Keolis group. The network consists of: * 4 tram lines ( A, B, C and D) * 75
bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for char ...
, all connected to the tramway network (from 1 to 96) * 13 night bus routes (from 1 to 16) * An
electric bus An electric bus is a bus that is propelled using electric motors as opposed to an internal combustion engine. Electric buses can store the needed electricity on-board, or be fed continuously from an external source. The majority of buses ...
shuttle in the city centre * A boat shuttle on the Garonne river This network is operated from 5 am to 2 am. There had been several plans for a subway network to be set up, but they stalled for both geological and financial reasons. Work on the
Tramway de Bordeaux The Bordeaux tramway network (french: Tramway de Bordeaux) consists of four lines serving the city of Bordeaux in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The system has a route length of , serving a total of 133 tram stops. The first line o ...
system was started in the autumn of 2000, and services started in December 2003 connecting Bordeaux with its suburban areas. The tram system uses
Alstom APS Alstom APS, also known as ''Alimentation par Sol'' or ''Alimentation Par le Sol'' (which literally means "feeding via the ground"), is a form of ground-level power supply for street trams and, potentially, other vehicles. APS was developed by In ...
a form of ground-level power supply technology developed by French company
Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avel ...
and designed to preserve the aesthetic environment by eliminating overhead cables in the historic city. Conventional overhead cables are used outside the city. The system was controversial for its considerable cost of installation, maintenance and also for the numerous initial technical problems that paralysed the network. Many streets and squares along the tramway route became pedestrian areas, with
limited access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
for cars. The planned Bordeaux tramway system is to link with the airport to the city centre towards the end of 2019.


Taxis

There are more than 400
taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...
s in Bordeaux.


Public transportation statistics

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bordeaux, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 51 min. 12.% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 13 min, while 15.5% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is , while 8% travel for over in a single direction.


Sport

The 41,458-capacity
Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux The Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, currently also known as the Matmut Atlantique for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Bordeaux, France. It is the home of Ligue 2 club FC Girondins de Bordeaux and seats 42,115 spectators. History Constr ...
is the largest stadium in Bordeaux. The stadium was opened in 2015 and replaced the Stade Chaban-Delmas, which was a venue for the FIFA World Cup in 1938 and 1998, as well as the
2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to ...
. In the
1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...
, it hosted a violent quarter-final known as the Battle of Bordeaux. The ground was formerly known as the ''Stade du Parc Lescure'' until 2001, when it was renamed in honour of the city's long-time mayor, Jacques Chaban-Delmas. There are two major sport teams in Bordeaux,
Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...
is the football team, playing in
Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de ...
, the second tier of French football.
Union Bordeaux Bègles Union Bordeaux Bègles (; oc, Union Bordèu Begla) is a French rugby union team playing in the Top 14, the first level of the country's professional league system. They earned their Top 14 place by winning the promotion playoffs that followed ...
is a
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
team in the
Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...
in the
Ligue Nationale de Rugby The French National Rugby League (french: Ligue Nationale de Rugby), known as the LNR, manages the professional rugby sector in France, by delegation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the French Rugby Federation. LNR * organises, manages and ...
. Skateboarding, rollerblading, and BMX biking are activities enjoyed by many young inhabitants of the city. Bordeaux is home to a beautiful quay which runs along the Garonne river. On the quay there is a skate-park divided into three sections. One section is for Vert tricks, one for street style tricks, and one for little action sports athletes with easier features and softer materials. The skate-park is very well maintained by the municipality. Bordeaux is also the home to one of the strongest
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
teams in France and are champions of the South West League. There is a wooden velodrome, Vélodrome du Lac, in Bordeaux which hosts international cycling competition in the form of
UCI Track Cycling World Cup The UCI Track Cycling World Cup (formerly known as the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics) is a multi race tournament held over a track cycling season - usually between October and February. Each series is divided into several rounds, each held i ...
events. The 2015 Trophee Eric Bompard was in Bordeaux. But the Free Skate was cancelled in all of the divisions due to the Paris and aftermath. The Short Program occurred hours before the bombing. French skaters Chafik Besseghier (68.36) in tenth place, Romain Ponsart (62.86) in 11th. Mae-Berenice-Meite (46.82) in 11th and Laurine Lecavelier (46.53) in 12th. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres (65.75) in second. Between 1951 and 1955, an annual Formula 1 motor race was held on a 2.5-kilometre circuit which looped around the Esplanade des Quinconces and along the waterfront, attracting drivers such as
Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
, Stirling Moss,
Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams. Appearance and personality Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds.''Beh ...
and
Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest care ...
.


Notable people

File:Ausonius.jpg,
Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala in Aquitaine, modern Bordeaux, France. For a time he was tutor to the future emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. ...
File:Anthony Frederick Sandys - Queen Eleanor.JPG,
Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
File:Richard II King of England.jpg,
Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father di ...
File:Montaigne-Dumonstier.jpg, Michel de Montaigne File:Sta. Joana de Lestonnac.jpg, Sainte Jeanne de Lestonnac File:Charles Montesquieu.jpg,
Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...
File:Rosa Bonheur, 1865, wearing the Legion of Honour.jpg,
Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fi ...
File:095 Odilon Redon Mon portrait.jpg, Odilon Redon File:Self-Portrait Albert Marquet (1904).jpg,
Albert Marquet Albert Marquet (27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more naturali ...
*
Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala in Aquitaine, modern Bordeaux, France. For a time he was tutor to the future emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. ...
(310–395), Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric *
Jean Alaux Jean Alaux, called "''le Romain''" ("the Roman"), (1786 – 2 March 1864) was a French history painter and Director of the French Academy in Rome from 1846 to 1852.
(1786–1864), painter * Bertrand Andrieu (1761–1822), engraver * Jean Anouilh (1910–1987), dramatist * Lucien Arman (1811–1873), shipbuilder and politician * Yvonne Arnaud (1892–1958), pianist, singer and actress *
Xavier Arnozan Charles Louis Xavier Arnozan (12 November 1852 – 5 February 1928) was a French physician, professor of therapeutics then of medical clinic at the Faculty of Medicine of Bordeaux, member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine, deputy mayor of ...
(1852–1928), physician * Floyd Ayité (born 1988), Togolese footballer * Jonathan Ayité (born 1985), Togolese footballer * Christine Barbe, winemaker * Jean-Baptiste Barrière (1707-1747), cellist, composer * Gérard Bayo (born 1936), writer and poet, * François Bigot (1703–1778), last "Intendant" of New France * Arnaud Binard (born 1971), actor and producer *
Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fi ...
(1822–1899), animal painter and sculptor *
Grégory Bourdy Grégory Bourdy (born 25 April 1982) is a French professional golfer who competes on the European Tour. Career Bourdy was born in Bordeaux. He turned professional in 2003. His cousin Nicolas Beaufils is also a professional golfer, who has playe ...
(born 1982), golfer *
Samuel Boutal Samuel Boutal (born 22 November 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. Boutal helped Troyes become one of the winners of the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the final Troyes beat Newcastle ...
(born 1969), footballer *
Edmond de Caillou Edmond de Caillou or Raymond de Caillou (also spelt Calhou, Calhau, Cailow; died 1316) was a Gascon knight who fought during the First War of Scottish Independence. Life Caillou is believed to have been a native of Bordeaux. It has also been sug ...
(died c. February 1316) Gascon knight fighting in Scotland *
Gérald Caussé Gérald Jean Caussé (born 20 May 1963) has been the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 9 October 2015. He is the fifteenth man to serve in this position. He has been a general authority of th ...
, Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints * René Clément (1913–1996), actor, director, writer *
Jean-René Cruchet Jean-René Cruchet (21 March 1875, Bordeaux – 1959, Bordeaux) was a French pathologist. Education and career In 1902 he obtained his medical doctorate at the University of Bordeaux and subsequently became ''chef de clinique médicale''. In ...
(1875–1959), pathologist * Boris Cyrulnik (born 1937), psychiatrist and psychoanalyst * Damia (1899–1978), singer and actress *
Étienne Noël Damilaville Étienne Noël Damilaville (21 November 1723 – 13 December 1768) was an 18th-century French man of letters, friend of Voltaire, Diderot and d'Alembert. He served in various military and administrative functions of the Ancien Régime. He was a me ...
(1723–1768), encyclopédiste *
Lili Damita Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937. Early life and education Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Car ...
(1901–1994), actress * Frédéric Daquin, (born 1978), footballer *
Danielle Darrieux Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (; 1 May 1917 – 17 October 2017) was a French actress of stage, television and film, as well as a singer and dancer. Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's g ...
(born 1917), actress *
Bernard Delvaille Bernard Delvaille (1 December 1931 – 18 April 2006) was a French poet, essayist, translator and anthologist. A graduate from the Institut d’Études Politiques, he entered the publishing business in the early 1950s as a reader for Éditions D ...
(1931–2006), poet, essayist *
David Diop David Mandessi Diop (9 July 1927 – 29 August 1960) was a French West African poet known for his contribution to the Négritude literary movement. His work reflects his anti-colonial stance. Biography Diop started writing poems while he was ...
(1927–1960), poet * Jean-Francois Domergue, footballer *
Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...
(1122–1204), duchess of Aquitaine, queen of France and queen of England * Jacques Ellul (1912–1994), sociologist, theologian, Christian anarchist *
Marie Fel Marie Fel (24 October 1713 – 2 February 1794) was a French opera singer and a daughter of the organist Henri Fel. Marie Fel was born at Bordeaux. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the Concert Spirituel. In a ...
(1713–1794), opera singer * Jean-Luc Fournet (1965), papyrologist *
Pierre-Jean Garat Pierre-Jean Garat (25 April 1764 – 1 March 1823) was a French Basque singer and nephew of Dominique Joseph Garat. He was born in Ustaritz. Garat devoted himself from an early age to the cultivation of his musical talents. Because he professed ...
(1762–1823), singer *
Armand Gensonné Armand Gensonné (, 10 August 175831 October 1793) was a French politician. The son of a military surgeon, he was born in Bordeaux, Gascony, and studied Law before the outbreak of the French Revolution, becoming lawyer of the ''parlement'' of ...
(1758–1793), politician * Sébastien Gervais (born 1976), professional footballer *
Stephen Girard Stephen Girard (May 20, 1750 – December 26, 1831; born Étienne Girard) was a naturalized American citizen, philanthropist, and banker of French origin. He singularly saved the U.S. government from financial collapse during the War of 1812 ...
(1750–1831), merchant, banker, and Philadelphia philanthropist * Jérôme Gnako (born 1968), footballer * Randolphe Gohi (born 1969), former professional footballer * Eugène Goossens (1867–1958), conductor, violinist * Anna Hamilton (1864–1935), doctor, superintendent of the Protestant Hospital at Bordeaux (1901–1934) * Adolphe Jacquies (c. 1798–1860), Canadian shopkeeper, printer, trade unionist, and newspaper publisher * Pierre Lacour (1745–1814), painter * Léopold Lafleurance (1865–1953), flautist * Joseph Henri Joachim Lainé (1767–1835), statesman * Sainte Jeanne de Lestonnac (1556–1640), Roman Catholic saint and foundress of the Sisters of the Company of Mary, Our Lady * Christophe Lestrade (born 1969), former professional footballer *
André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was born ...
(1885–1962), cubist painter *
Jeanne Henriette Louis Jeanne Henriette Louis (often spelled Jeanne-Henriette Louis; born 1938 in Bordeaux), is professor emeritus of civilization in North America at the University of Orléans, France. Her work relates to psychological warfare and the peace movement. ...
, (1938), professor of North American civilization * Jean-Baptiste Lynch (1749–1835), politician * Lucenzo (born 1983), singer *
Jean-Jacques Magendie Jean-Jacques Magendie (21 May 1766 in Bordeaux – 26 March 1835 in Paris) was a French Navy officer. He famously captained the flagship ''Bucentaure'' at the Battle of Trafalgar. Biography Early career Magendie joined the French Royal Navy i ...
(1766–1835), officer *
François Magendie __NOTOC__ François Magendie (6 October 1783 – 7 October 1855) was a French physiologist, considered a pioneer of experimental physiology. He is known for describing the foramen of Magendie. There is also a ''Magendie sign'', a downward ...
(1783–1855), physiologist *
Bruno Marie-Rose Bruno Marie-Rose (born 20 May 1965 in Bordeaux) is a retired sprinter from France . He was a member of the French team which set a world record in the 4 x 100 metres relay in 1990 with a time of 37.79 seconds to win the gold medal at the Europe ...
(born 1965), athlete (sprinter) *
Albert Marquet Albert Marquet (27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more naturali ...
, (1875–1947), painter * François Mauriac (1885–1970), writer, Nobel laureate 1952 *
Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also ...
(born 1977), dancer and choreographer * Édouard Molinaro (1928–2013), film director, screenwriter * Pierre Molinier (1900–1976), painter, photographer * Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592), essayist *
Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...
(1689–1755), man of letters and political philosopher *
Olivier Mony Olivier Mony (born 27 October 1966, Bordeaux) is a French writer and journalist. A collaborator with ', '' Le Figaro Magazine'', '' Sud Ouest'' or ', he was a jury in the 2011 prix Françoise Sagan. Publications *2002: ''Regardez-les danser'', ...
(1966–), writer and literary critic * Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty (1768–1815), general * Elie Okobo, basketball player *
Pierre Palmade Pierre Palmade (born 23 March 1968) is a French actor, comedian, stage director and playwright. Biography Pierre Palmade began his career in sketch comedy shows on stage and on television in the late 1980s, and in the 1990s he wrote and played ...
(born 1968), actor and comedian * St. Paulinus of Nola (354–431), educator, religious figure *
Émile Péreire Émile Pereire (3 December 1800, Bordeaux - 5 January 1875, Paris) and his brother Isaac Pereire (25 November 1806, Bordeaux – 12 July 1880, Gretz-Armainvilliers) were major figures in the development of France's finance and infrastructure duri ...
(1800–1875), banker and industrialist * Sophie Pétronin (born 1945), aid worker and humanitarian * Albert Pitres (1848–1928), neurologist * Hippolyte Pradelles (1824–1913), naturalist painter * Georges Antoine Pons Rayet (1839–1906), astronomer, discoverer of the Wolf-Rayet stars, & founder of the Bordeaux Observatory * Odilon Redon (1840–1916), painter *
Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father di ...
(1367–1400), king *
Pierre Rode Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode (16 February 1774 – 25 November 1830) was a French violinist and composer. Life and career Born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Pierre Rode traveled in 1787 to Paris and soon became a favourite pupil of the great Gi ...
(1774–1830), violinist *
Olinde Rodrigues Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues (6 October 1795 – 17 December 1851), more commonly known as Olinde Rodrigues, was a French banker, mathematician, and social reformer. In mathematics Rodrigues is remembered for Rodrigues' rotation formula for vectors ...
(1795–1851), mathematician, banker and social reformer * Marie-Sabine Roger (born 1957), writer *
Bernard Sarrette Bernard Sarrette (27 November 1765April 1858), founded what would become the '' Conservatoire de Paris''. Biography Sarrette was born in Bordeaux, the son of a shoemaker, and travelled to Paris as an accountant. During the French Revolution, h ...
(1765–1858), conductor and music pedagogue * Jean-Jacques Sempé (1932–2022), cartoonist *
Florent Serra Florent Lucien Serra (born 28 February 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. A right-hander, he won two ATP titles during his career and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 36 in June 2006. Career Early life and ...
(born 1981), tennis player * Alfred Smith, (1854–1932), painter *
Philippe Sollers Philippe Sollers (; born Philippe Joyaux; 28 November 1936) is a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the ''avant garde'' literary journal ''Tel Quel'' (along with writer and art critic Marcelin Pleynet), which was published by Le S ...
, (born 1936), writer * Wilfried Tekovi, (born 1989), Togolese footballer * Elie Vinet (1509–1587), historian and humanist of the Renaissance


International relationships


Twin towns – sister cities

Bordeaux is twinned with: *
Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...
, Israel, since 1984 *
Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...
, Spain *
Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world ...
, Azerbaijan, since 1985 *
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, United Kingdom, since 1947 *
Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
, Morocco, since 1988 * Fukuoka, Japan, since 1982 * Kraków, Poland, since 1993 * Lima, Peru, since 1957 * Los Angeles, California United States, since 1968 * Madrid, Spain, since 1984 * Munich, Germany, since 1964 *
Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
, Algeria, since 2003 *
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
, Portugal, since 1978 * Quebec City, Quebec Canada, since 1962 * Ramallah, Palestine * Riga, Latvia * Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 1993 *
Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
, China, since 1998


Partnerships

*
Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos ( Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The ci ...
, Turkey, since 2010


See also

*
Bordeaux wine regions The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the ...
*
Bordeaux–Paris The Bordeaux–Paris professional cycle race was one of Europe's classic cycle races, and one of the longest in the professional calendar, covering approximately – more than twice most single-day races. It started in northern Bordeaux in so ...
, a formerly professional road bicycle racing annual event *The
Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian, the Burdigalian was the first and longest w ...
Age of the Miocene Epoch is named for Bordeaux * Canelé, a local pastry *
Communes of the Gironde department The following is a list of the 535 communes of the Gironde department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Dogue de Bordeaux The Dogue de Bordeaux, Bordeaux Mastiff, French Mastiff or Bordeauxdog is a large French mastiff breed. A typical brachycephalic mastiff breed, the Bordeaux is a very powerful dog, with a very muscular body. This muscular breed has been put to ...
, a
breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...
of dog originally bred for
dog fighting Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, generally to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged i ...
*
French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Ameri ...
* List of mayors of Bordeaux *
Operation Frankton Operation Frankton was a commando raid on ships in the German occupied French port of Bordeaux in southwest France during the Second World War. The raid was carried out by a small unit of Royal Marines known as the Royal Marines Boom Patrol ...
, a British
Combined Operations In current military use, combined operations are operations conducted by forces of two or more allied nations acting together for the accomplishment of a common strategy, a strategic and operational and sometimes tactical cooperation. Interac ...
raid on shipping in the harbour at Bordeaux, in December 1942, during World War II *
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bordeaux The Archdiocese of Bordeaux (–Bazas) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Burdigalensis (–Bazensis)''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Bordeaux (–Bazas)''; Occitan: ''Archidiocèsi de Bordèu (–Vasats)'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or a ...
*
Girondins The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnar ...
*
Atlantic history Atlantic history is a specialty field in history that studies the Atlantic World in the early modern period. The Atlantic World was created by the discovery of a new land by Europeans, and Atlantic History is the study of that world. It is ...
* Triangular trade *
History of slavery The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions of en ...


References


Bibliography

* *


External links


Bordeaux : the world capital of wine
– Official French website (in English) * {{Authority control Communes of Gironde Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast Prefectures in France World Heritage Sites in France Cities in France Gironde Gallia Aquitania Guyenne Cities in Nouvelle-Aquitaine