Bordeaux

Sister cities

• Kraków
• Ramallah

History

Around 300 BC, the region was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, who named the town Burdigala, probably of Aquitanian origin. In 107 BC, the Battle of Burdigala was fought by the Romans who were defending the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe allied to Rome, and the Tigurini led by Divico. The Romans were defeated and their commander, the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in battle. The city came under Roman rule around 60 BC, and it became an important commercial centre for tin and lead. During this period were built the amphitheatre and the monument Les Piliers de Tutelle. In 276 AD, it was sacked by the Vandals. The Vandals attacked again in 409, followed by the Visigoths in 414, and the Franks in 498, and afterwards the city fell into a period of relative obscurity. In the late 6th century AD the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks, but royal Frankish power was never strong. The city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585 Gallactorius was made Count of Bordeaux and fought the Basques. In 732, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman who stormed the fortifications and overwhelmed the Aquitanian garrison. Duke Eudes mustered a force to engage the Umayyads, eventually engaging them in the Battle of the River Garonne somewhere near the river Dordogne. The battle had a high death toll, and although Eudes was defeated he had enough troops to engage in the Battle of Poitiers and so retain his grip on Aquitaine. In 737, following his father Eudes's death, the Aquitanian duke Hunald led a rebellion to which Charles responded by launching an expedition that captured Bordeaux.…

Geography

Bordeaux is located close to the European Atlantic coast, in the southwest of France and in the north of the Aquitaine region. It is around southwest of Paris. The city is built on a bend of the river Garonne, and is divided into two parts: the right bank to the east and left bank in the west. Historically the left bank is more developed because when flowing outside the bend, the water makes a furrow of the required depth to allow the passing of merchant ships, which used to offload on this side of the river. But, today, the right bank is developing, including new urban projects. In Bordeaux, the Garonne River is accessible to ocean liners through the Gironde estuary. The right bank of the Garonne is a low-lying, often marshy plain. Bordeaux's climate can be classified as oceanic (Köppen climate classification Cfb), bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). However, the Trewartha climate classification system classifies the city as solely humid subtropical, due to a recent rise in temperatures related – to some degree or another – to climate change and the city's urban heat island. The city enjoys cool to mild, wet winters, due to its relatively southerly latitude, and the prevalence of mild, westerly winds from the Atlantic. Its summers are warm and somewhat drier, although wet enough to avoid a Mediterranean classification. Frosts occur annually, but snowfall is quite infrequent, occurring for no more than 3–4 days a year. The summer of 2003 set a record with an average temperature of , while February 1956 was the coldest month on record with an average temperature of at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,094
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,699
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,579
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,464
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,864
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,672
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,576
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,568

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2019-04-06
  7 km ENE of Chevanceaux, France
• M 4.5 — 2019-03-20
  5 km NNE of Montendre, France
• M 2.6 — 2006-09-30
  6 km ENE of Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, France
• M 2.8 — 2006-07-09
  0 km NNW of Médis, France
• M 3 — 2004-08-05
  19 km W of Biscarrosse, France
• M 2.9 — 2004-07-19
  7 km NW of Pontenx-les-Forges, France