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Rivers and streams

Its wines may have made Gironde  famous, but its waters have also done much to contribute to its development. When a Celtic people, the Biturigi Vivisci, settled on the banks of a meander of the Garonne in the 3rd  century BC, a port grew up on the river, known as Burdig...
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Its wines may have made Gironde  famous, but its waters have also done much to contribute to its development. When a Celtic people, the Biturigi Vivisci, settled on the banks of a meander of the Garonne in the 3rd  century BC, a port grew up on the river, known as Burdigala – the present-day Bordeaux.
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Voilier sur la Garonne
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It was also its river’s waters that led to the development of trade – tin, wheat, wood, wine and resin made the city’s fortune, and it came to be known as “little Paris”.

As Victor Hugo wrote while contemplating the fountains of Versailles, “Take Versailles, add Antwerp, and you have Bordeaux”. The author had great affection for the city and for the Department of  Gironde, a land wedded to its waters.

In the Middle Ages, water was also at the origin of such bastide towns on the Garonne and Dordogne as Créon, Cadillac, Sainte-Foy-la-Grande and Libourne.

It was also Gironde’s plentiful supply of water that led to the development of watermills along the rivers and streams flowing into the Garonne and the Dordogne –  the  Ciron, the  Engranne and the  Dropt to name but a few. There are still a number of fortified mills to be seen in Entre-deux-Mers, including Loubens (13th  century) and Bagas (14th  century).

Gironde’s network of navigable waterways includes over 400 km open to sailing enthusiasts, divided up into four distinct areas - the  Gironde Estuary, the Garonne and the canal alongside the Garonne, the Dordogne, and the Isle.

  • The Dordogne Valley

    The River Dordogne flows through the Gironde, winding between vineyards, forests and limestone plateaus.

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  • The Garonne Valley

    The Garonne leaves the urban landscape of Bordeaux to find itself back in natural surroundings, flowing through two regions – Entre-deux-Mers with its remarkable Romanesque heritage and bastide towns, and South Gironde, home of the Graves and Sauterne vineyards  and entrance to Europe’s largest forest .

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  • The Isle Valley

    The Isle  has its source in the Massif Central, crosses the Dordogne county, then meets the River Dordogne itself at Libourne. The river has been navigable since medieval times, and for centuries was the scene of major craftwork and industrial (flour milling) activity. Canalisation of the Isle started in 1756 with a view to enabling boats to sail between Libourne and Périgueux. There are now 42 locks.  

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