Heritage in Gironde

Every era and every architectural style is represented in Gironde : Gallo-Roman remains, Romanesque churches, medieval fortresses or châteaux and 19^th -century seaside resorts stand side by side with rather more recent creations, such as the working man’s city in Pessac designed by Le Corbusier and Bordeaux’s highly futurist High Court

Magnifique grille en fer forgé habillant le passage entre le cloître du prieuré des Bénédictins et l'esplanade

CDT 33 - Bernard Nadau

There are 941 buildings in Gironde that are protected as Historical Monuments, 239 of which are listed.

Among them, naturally enough, are such remarkable sites as the monolithic church in Saint-Emilion, the Cordouan Lighthouse, the Blaye Citadel and the collegiate church in Uzeste, where Bertrand de Got, Pope Clement V, lies buried.

235 sites also bear the county label “Gironde à fleur de pierre”, designed to promote buildings of major architectural interest.

Land of Romanesque art, Gironde boasts a major 11^th  and 12^th -century religious heritage. You only need to take one of the Ways of Saint James of Compostela to be convinced of the fact!

There is hardly a village that does not possess a perfectly preserved Romanesque treasure: Castelvieil, Haux and Blasimon in Entre-Deux-Mers, Moulis in Médoc, Saint-Pierre-de-Mons in South Gironde, Saint-Georges-de-Montagne in the Libourne region – the list is endless...

Gironde also preserves a precious monumental heritage dating back to the Middle Ages and whose edifices may still be visited today, such as Roquetaillade castle in Mazères, in South Gironde, a 12^th  and 14^th -century fortress that had the honour of being restored by the famous architect Viollet-le-Duc.

Anyone intent on discovering Gironde’s architectural heritage should not miss out on Bordeaux, a city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and which has the privilege of accommodating the biggest protected sector and the largest 18^th -century neoclassical facade anywhere in Europe.

There is also much to admire In Entre-Deux-Mers and the Libourne region, including the bastide towns and such villages of character as Saint-Emilion, Créon, Cadillac, Monségur and Saint-Macaire, along with France’s smallest municipality, Castelmoron d’Albret.

 Also well worth seeing in South Gironde are the mediaeval villages of La Réole and Bazas, as well as the Clementine châteaux of Roquetaillade and Villandraut, and Château de Cazeneuve.