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Saint-Emilion (20 kms from Sainte-Foy La Grande)

Village médiéval de Saint-Emilion

History is omnipresent in Saint-Émilion, imbuing the cobblestone streets and almost palpable during walking tours.
Each stone, each vine leaf seems to call for your attention, and your taste buds will quiver with anticipation when you smell the fragrance of the town's traditional macaroons.
This delightful medieval village, in the heart of the world-famous Bordeaux vineyards, has a cachet all of its own thanks to ubiquitous vineyards, superb wines, impressive monuments, and beautiful architecture.
A town full of history on a rocky promontory, Saint-Émilion and its surrounding vineyards owe their originality to limestone soil.

Cloître de Saint-Emilion

From the 9th to the 19th century, men worked inordinately hard to extract blocks of stones to construct buildings in the town of Saint-Émilion as well as nearby châteaux. This also accounts for the presence of some 200 km of underground galleries and the largest monolithic church in Europe. Limestone is everywhere, and accounts for soil that is exceptionally well-suited to winegrowing.
Man has always adapted to this magnificent rolling countryside without attempting to transform it into something it isn't, instead complementing it with harmonious architecture that blends in beautifully. The ochre light reflected from these buildings is overwhelmingly attractive and the stones seem to tell us a story well worth hearing…

Bordeaux, listed a UNESCO Worl Heritage site

It is a recognition of our city's value and historic unity. Bordeaux is exemplary thanks to the unity of its urban and architectural expression. This architecture is classical and neoclassical and met with nearly no stylistic changes for over two centuries.

The urban project launched in 1996 and made concrete by the cleaning of façades, the development of the quays along the Garonne river, the commissioning of the tram that runs on a ground-level power supply and the requalification of urban areas strengthened this desire to protect and showcase Bordeaux's heritage.

Pont de Pierre de Bordeaux

Bordeaux has more than 350 classified buildings and buildings listed as Historic Monuments, including 3 religious World Heritage buildings since 1998 as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

This is also the result of long-standing joint work together with all local and State authorities.
On the initiative of Alain Juppé, the city developed and defended its candidacy with the help of architects, town planners, historians, researchers and representatives of associations involved in heritage preservation.

The originality of Bordeaux’s approach lies in the size of the classified area. Bordeaux is the leading urban conglomeration distinguished in such a vast and complex area. The classified zone corresponds to the inside of the boulevards, to and including the Garonne. It stretches out over 1,810 hectares, or nearly half of the city’s surface area. Furthermore, the city of Bordeaux as a whole, the area outside of the boulevards and 8 surrounding communes (Bruges, Cenon, Floirac, le Bouscat, Lormont, Mérignac, Pessac and Talence) are concerned by the so-called heritage sensitivity area, which is also recognized.

For all classified cities and areas, being featured on the World Heritage List has had a highly beneficial impact on tourism in the years that have followed. It is an additional asset for the cultural and economic appeal of our city and our conglomeration.