Place Gambetta - Dijeaux
(Gambetta Square - Porte Dijeaux ) The luxuriantly landscaped Gambetta Square, with its shaded green and trickle of pools, offers the tourist and city shopper alike an eye-nourishing break in what is now considered as the centre of town. Tram B, Gambetta station As the Porte Dijeaux attests, Gambetta Square used to be situated outside the city walls though is now considered as the city’s centre leading on to some of the most stylish shopping areas in town where major brands names are established : Cours Clemenceau, Cours de l’Intendance which leads to the Grand Theatre, and rue de la Porte Dijeaux which leads to Saint Catherine’s street.
The city administrator Louis-Urbain Aubert, marquis de Tourny, in his embellishment programme, decided in 1746 to create a new square surrounded by harmonious façades each harbouring a mascaron in keeping with the spirit initiated with the construction of the Place de la Bourse. There are ?? mascarons the oldest of which are situated on the buildings around the Porte Dijeaux.
Construction began in 1747 and wasn’t fully completed until the 19th century from the original designs by the architect Nicolas Portier (1702 – 1770) who also laid down the plans for the Place de la Victoire and the Place Tourny. All the buildings are in the elegant Louis XV style with characteristic mansard roofs, an arched ground floor designed for commerce and the upper floors for living quarters.
On the occasion of the marriage between the Dauphin (the future King Loius XVI) and Marie-Antoinette, the square was first named “Place Dauphin”, then rebaptised “Place Nationale” in 1790 the same year that the white royal flag was replaced by the Tricolour (blue, white and red). The square was renamed “Place Gambetta” in 1883 after the French politician Léon Gambetta who, as Home Secretary in the temporary government of the III Republic during the Prussian siege of Paris in 1870/1, established a French government in Bordeaux.
The Place Gambetta’s usurping the historic district as the city centre is by no means recent. A milestone on the square placed there in the middle of the 19th century still marks the spot from which all distances from and to Bordeaux were established. This kilometre zero milestone upon which is engraved “Origine du Monde” is situated outside number 10 though no longer holds its original function. The absolute centre of the city is now marked by the town hall.
The city administrator Louis-Urbain Aubert, marquis de Tourny, in his embellishment programme, decided in 1746 to create a new square surrounded by harmonious façades each harbouring a mascaron in keeping with the spirit initiated with the construction of the Place de la Bourse. There are ?? mascarons the oldest of which are situated on the buildings around the Porte Dijeaux.
Construction began in 1747 and wasn’t fully completed until the 19th century from the original designs by the architect Nicolas Portier (1702 – 1770) who also laid down the plans for the Place de la Victoire and the Place Tourny. All the buildings are in the elegant Louis XV style with characteristic mansard roofs, an arched ground floor designed for commerce and the upper floors for living quarters.
On the occasion of the marriage between the Dauphin (the future King Loius XVI) and Marie-Antoinette, the square was first named “Place Dauphin”, then rebaptised “Place Nationale” in 1790 the same year that the white royal flag was replaced by the Tricolour (blue, white and red). The square was renamed “Place Gambetta” in 1883 after the French politician Léon Gambetta who, as Home Secretary in the temporary government of the III Republic during the Prussian siege of Paris in 1870/1, established a French government in Bordeaux.
The Place Gambetta’s usurping the historic district as the city centre is by no means recent. A milestone on the square placed there in the middle of the 19th century still marks the spot from which all distances from and to Bordeaux were established. This kilometre zero milestone upon which is engraved “Origine du Monde” is situated outside number 10 though no longer holds its original function. The absolute centre of the city is now marked by the town hall.
