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Bordeaux, France - 1916
Bordeaux, a city in the SW. of France, capital of the department of Gironde (in Giuionne), on the Garonne, 60 miles from its mouth, on its left bank, and 368 miles SSW. of Paris. Lat. of the observatory, 44° 50' 7" N. ; Lon. 0° 38' 21" W. On the right bank of the river, here half a mile wide, is the suburb of La Bastide, with which it is connected by a modern stone bridge of 17 arches and a railway bridge. Bordeaux is one of the most flourishing cities of France in point of industry, commerce, and the cultivation of the arts and sciences. In the old part of the city the streets arc crooked and narrow, but the new quarters are very elegant. Of the fine public squares the principal is the Place de la Quinconoe, adorned with colossal statues of Montesquieu and Montaigne. Among the most prominent buildings are the mediaeval Cathedral of St. Andre, with a detached bell-tower or campanile, the Church of St. Michel, which has likewise a campanile, the great theatre built by Louis XVI., one of the finest in Europe, the bourse, the HOtel de Ville, the Palais de Justice, and the Hotel de la Marine. The Palais Gallien (the Emperor Gallienus) rep resents part of a Roman amphitheatre. Some of the old gates of the city are still preserved. Bordeaux has a university attended by over 2000 students and baring a library of 200,000 volumes, institutions of a high order where the fine arts, navigation, agriculture, and the industrial arts are taught, and a fine gallery of paintings.
Bordeaux takes rank next after Marseilles and Havre among the ports of France, both in foreign and in coastwise trade. Its great crescent-shaped harbor or basin, formed by the Garonne, is capable of containing 1000 ships of any size, and is accessible for vessels of 600 tons at all times of the tide, while large ocean steamers can ascend to the city at high tide. An additional port has recently been constructed at Balacan, at the lower end of the city. There are extensive ship-building yards, and the quays are among the finest in Europe. Bordeaux is especially noted as a shipping-place for wine, which is sent to all parts of the world. It has manufactures of liqueurs, vinegar, tobacco, chemical products, and articles connected with the wine trade, as well as sugar-refineries, distilleries, and iron- foundries. The city is the seat of an archbishop. Burdigala was a very important town under the Romans, and was the capital of Aquitania Secunda. Pop. in 1875, 215,140 ; in 1891, 242,259 ; in 1901, 246,999.
Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher
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