The Place des Quinconces, located in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, is among the

largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...

city squares in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

(approximately 63 ac or 25.6 ha). It was laid out in 1820 on the site of Château Trompette and was intended to prevent rebellion against the city. Its guns were turned towards the centre. Its current shape (lengthened rectangle rounded off with a semicircle) was adopted in 1816. Trees were planted (in

quincunx A quincunx () is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (d ...

es, hence the name of the square) in 1818. With the installation of a tram system in 2003, the place has become the most important public transport hub of the area, with

Quinconces tram stop ''Quinconces'' tram stop is located on lines B, C and D of the Tramway de Bordeaux, and serves as an interchange between the three lines. The stop is located in the ''Place des Quinconces'' in the centre of the city of Bordeaux, and has four ...

serving three tram lines, 21 bus lines (including 3 night buses), an electric shuttle, and 12 coach lines through Gironde as well as a reception area in the south.

Sculptures

The two rostral columns facing the

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...

were erected by

Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau (20 July 1700, Paris13 August 1782, Paris), was a French physician, naval engineer and botanist. Biography Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau was born in Paris in 1700, the son of Alexandre Duhamel, lord of Denai ...

in 1829. One of them symbolises

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

, and the other stands for

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

. The white-marble statues of Michel de Montaigne and Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu (by sculptor Dominique Fortuné Magges]) were added in 1858. The principal monument, the 54-meter-tall ''Monument aux Girondins'',Retrieved May 20, 2021Retrieved May 20, 2021 was erected between 1894 and 1902,Retrieved May 20, 2021 in memory of the

Girondist The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

s who fell victim of the Reign of Terror during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. It has a large pedestal framed with two basins, decorated with bronze horses and troops, and surmounted by a large column with a statue on top to represent the spirit of liberty. Just below the statue on each of the 4 sides are the letter "G" for the Girondins, and crescents for the "Port de la Lune" (Port of the Moon) symbolising the crescent-shaped curve of the river. Among the

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s are: * towards the large theatre: triumph of the Republic * towards Chartrons: triumph of the Concorde * towards the river: the Tribune with the French cockerel; to its right, History, and on its left, the Éloquence (2 seated people). * towards the Tourny square: the city of Bordeaux sitting on the prow of a ship with a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

. To the right of the base: the river

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

and to the left the

. At the feet of the "Triumph of the Concorde": Ignorance, Lies and Vice. At the feet of the Triumph of the Republique": A family with the child riding on a sturgeon, representing Happiness. The column was erected by Achille Dumilatre and architect Victor Rich. The pedestal is by Corgolin. Felix Sharpantie and Gustav Debri created the sculpture groups with the latter responsible for the sea horses.Retrieved May 20, 2021 During the 1942

German occupation of France in World War II The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during Wor ...

, the Nazis removed the statues from the fountain to make cannons and destroyed other parts of the monument. The statues were located two years later in Angers and restored and re-erected in 1983. The Girondin memorial was renovated in 2004 and declared a historical monument on March 16, 2011. The names of deputies to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

executed during the Terror who hailed from the Gironde department were added in 1989.

Gallery

Image:Colonne.jpg, The column by Dumilatre and Rich Image:Statue_de_la_place_des_quniquonces.jpg, Statue on top of the column File:Bordeaux-5.JPG, Sculpture of suffering figures Image:Bordeaux quinconces 01.jpg, Trees of the Place des Quinconces. File:Monument aux Girondins - Fontaine (detail).jpg, Monument aux Girondins, fountain (detail), place des Quinconces, Bordeaux, France

References

External links

Information on the city's official site

Place des Quinconces on a city map, including photos of The Orange
{{coord, 44, 50, 44, N, 0, 34, 25, W, type:landmark, display=title Squares in France Buildings and structures in Bordeaux Tourist attractions in Bordeaux Chateau Trompette

Sculptures

Gallery

See also

References

External links