Bordeaux

BORDEAUX, city and seaport of south-west France, capital of the department of Gironde, 359m. S.S.W. of Paris by the Or leans railway and 159m. N.W. of Toulouse on the Southern rail way. Pop. Bordeaux, the fourth largest town in France, lies on the left or west bank of the Garonne 15m. above its junction with the Dordogne and 6om. from the sea, in a plain east of the wine-growing district of Medoc. The Garonne (550 yd. wide) sweeping northwards in a broad curve, separates the city proper from the suburb of La Bastide on the right bank. The river is crossed by the Pont de Bordeaux (early 1 gth cen tury), 1,534ft. in length, by a railway bridge and by a recently constructed transbordeur. From the Pont de Bordeaux, the view westward embraces a crescent of wide quays 5m. long with a background of tall warehouses, factories and mansions. Near the centre of the quays is the Place des Quinconces, the nodal point. The streets and squares of the central portion are symmetrically planned in the i8th century manner. Outside this quarter, which contains most of the important buildings, the streets are narrow and quiet and bordered by the low white houses characteristic of Bordeaux. The whole city is surrounded by a semicircle of boule vards, beyond which lie the suburbs of Le Bouscat, Cauderan, Merignac, Talence and Begles. The dry soil of Medoc attracted settlement already in the Bronze age and, at least since Roman times, Bordeaux has been a flourishing town and port, with con nections particularly with Spain and Britain. As Burdigala it was the chief town of the Bituriges Vivisci. Under the Roman em pire it became a commercial city, and in the 4th century it was made the capital of Aquitania Secunda. Ausonius, a contemporary native writer, describes it as a square walled-city, and celebrates it as one of the greatest educational centres of Gaul. It suffered severely of ter the disintegration of the empire, and did not re cover till the loth century. Along with Guienne it belonged to the English from 1154 to 1453, and was for a time the seat of the court of Edward the Black Prince, whose son Richard was born in the city. Commerce developed between Bordeaux mer chants and their fellow-subjects in London, Hull, Exeter, Dart mouth, Bristol and Chester. Various privileges were granted by the English as trade increased. The influence of Bordeaux was still further augmented when several neighbouring towns, e.g., St. Emilion and Libourne, united in a federation under its leadership. The defeat of the English at the battle of Castillon in 1453 ended their domination in the province. The privileges of the city were at once curtailed, and only partially restored under Louis XI., who organized the parlement of Guienne and the university. In 1S48 the inhabitants rebelled against the imposition of the salt tax.

The reformed religion found numerous adherents at Bordeaux, and after the massacre of St. Bartholomew nearly three hundred of its inhabitants lost their lives. The 17th century was a period of disturbance. The Fronde insurrection found great support among the Bordelais. In the i8th century, a period of commer cial and architectural activity for Bordeaux, the marquis de Tourny, intendant of Guienne, spent large sums in widening the streets and laying out public squares. It was the headquarters of the Girondists at the Revolution, and during the Reign of Terror suffered severely. Its commerce was greatly reduced under Na poleon I. In 1814 it declared for the house of Bourbon ; and Louis XVIII. afterwards gave the title of Duc de Bordeaux to his grand-nephew. In 187o the French government was transferred to Bordeaux from Tours on the approach of the Germans to the lat ter city. The city again became the seat of the French Govern ment when Paris was threatened by the Germans in Aug. 1914.

Chief Buildings.--Near

the centre of the city are the allees de Tourny and the Place des Quinconces. The latter, planted with plane trees, contains two huge statues of Montaigne and Montes quieu and terminates upon the quays with two rostral columns which serve as lighthouses. On its west side is a monument to the Girondin deputies proscribed under the convention in At its south-west corner the Place des Quinconces opens into the Place de la Comedie, the heart of the city, which contains the Grand Theatre (18th century), and is traversed by a street which, under various names, runs from the quaff de la Douane on the east to the outer boulevards on the west. The rue Sainte Catherine runs at right angles to this and enters the Place de la Comedie on the south. The Pont de Bordeaux is continued by the Cour Victor Hugo, a curved street leading to a spacious square in which stands the cathedral of St. Andre. It consists of a large nave without aisles, a transept at the extremities of which are the main en trances, and a choir, flanked by double aisles and chapels and con taining many works of art. The broad nave begun in the 12th century contrasts with the lofty 14th century Gothic choir. Both the north and south facades are richly decorated. Near the choir stands the Clocher Pey-Berland, named after the archbishop of Bordeaux who erected it in the 15th century. Of the numerous other churches of Bordeaux the most notable are St. Seurin (11th to 15th centuries), with a finely sculptured south door; Ste. Croix (12th and 13th centuries), remarkable for its Romanesque facade; and St. Michel (14th and 16th centuries) . The bell tower of St. Michel (15th century) has the highest spire (354ft.) in southern France, and, like that of the cathedral, stands apart from its church. The palace of the Faculties of Science and of Letters (1881-1886) contains the tomb of Montaigne. The prefecture, the hotel de ville, the bourse and the custom-house belong to the 15th century. The law-courts and the hospital of St. Andre (founded 139o) date from the early 19th century. The Palais Gallien, situated near the public garden, consists of remains of a Roman amphitheatre. The city lost its fortifications in the 18th century, but several old gateways remain.

Bordeaux is the seat of an archbishop, the headquarters of the XVIII. army corps, the centre of an academie (educational di vision) and the seat of a court of appeal. A court of assizes is held there, and there are tribunals of first instance and of com merce, a council of trade-arbitrators, and a chamber of com merce. The University (1441) includes faculties of law, of sci ence, of letters and of medicine and pharmacy, and a faculty of Catholic theology. There are several museums, including one with a large collection of pictures and sculptures, a library with over 200,000 volumes, and numerous learned societies. The trade of Bordeaux, the fourth port in France for tonnage of goods, is chiefly carried on by sea. Its port, s2m. long and on the average 55oyds. wide, is formed by the basin of the Garonne and is di vided into two portions by the Pont de Bordeaux. The city trades chiefly with Great Britain, Spain, Argentina, Portugal and the United States, and has the South American service of the Messageries Maritimes. The city is the centre of the trade in "Bordeaux" wines, and the wine-cellars of the quays are one of its principal sights. Other principal exports are brandy, resin extract, talc, ochre, walnuts, wood-hoops, turpentine, pitwood, fruit, potatoes and other vegetables. The chief imports are py rites, timber, grain, hardware, agricultural and other machinery and chemicals. A large fleet is annually despatched to the cod fisheries of Newfoundland and Iceland. The most important in dustry is ship building and refitting. Ironclads and torpedo-boats as well as merchant vessels are constructed. Railway carriages are also built. The industries subsidiary to the wine-trade, such as wine-mixing, cooperage and the making of bottles, corks, cap sules, straw envelopes and wooden cases, occupy many hands. There are also flour-mills, sugar-refineries, breweries, distilleries, oil-works, cod-drying works, manufactories of canned and pre served fruits, vegetables and meat, and of chocolate. Chemicals, leather, iron-ware, machinery and pottery are manufactured, and a tobacco factory employs 1,5oo hands.

See Camille Jullian, Hist. de Bordeaux, depuis les origines jusqu'en 1895 (Bordeaux, 1895) ; Charles Saunier, Bordeaux (2nd ed. 1925) ; Edw. Delage, "Le port de Bordeaux," Rev. Maritime I., pp. 745-759 (1928).