Bordeaux

   A city of southwestern France, Bordeaux, capital of the Gironde Department, is on the Garonne River, which flows into the Bay of Biscay. Canals also link the city with the Mediterranean, and it is the chief trade and shipping center for the region's wines. Manufactures include ships, motor vehicles, refined petroleum, chemicals, and processed food. Bordeaux is crescent-shaped (lying along a broad bend in the Garonne), and the north section is well planned with wide streets and spacious squares, notably the Place des Quinconces, and many imposing buildings. The south section, constructed during the 18th century, is older, with narrow streets and many wooden structures, some dating to an earlier period. Points of interest include the Porte de Bourgogne and the Porte d'Aquitaine; the Cathedral of Saint-André from the 11th century; the church of Saint Croix, a Romanesque basilica of the 12th and 13th centuries; and the church of Saint Seurin, from the 11th to the 15th centuries. other important and historic buildings are the Hôtel de ville; the Bordeaux Library, with many significant manuscripts; the Grand-Théâtre, from the 18th century, and several art museums. Bordeaux and nearby Talence are the sites of the universities of Bordeaux I, II, and III, established in the early 1970s to supplement the University of Bordeaux (1441). Before the Roman conquest of Gaul, the city of Bordeaux, then known as Burdigala, was the capital of the Bituriges Vivisques, a Celtic tribe. The Romans took the city in the first century and developed a commercial center. In the fourth century it became the capital of the province of Aquitania Seconda and also the seat of an archbishopric. From the fifth to the 12th centuries, it was held for varying periods by the Goths and the Normans. In 1154, through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England, Bordeaux became an English possession. During the hundred years' war, the English withdrew and the city, accustomed to regional autonomy, until the late 17th century, often rebelled against subsequent French rule. During the revolution of 1789, Bordeaux was a stronghold of the moderate republican faction, the girondins. Because of this, the city suffered greatly during the terror. Bordeaux was one of the first to rally to the Bourbon cause in 1814, at which time King louis XV III granted the title duke of Bordeaux to his nephew and later heir, the count of cham-bord. The city served as the seat of the French government in the final stages of the franco-prussian war and, during World War I, the government again for a time was also located there. Bordeaux was the seat of a government, too, in 1940, but was then occupied by German forces until 1945.