Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Bordeaux Public Garden came into being in 1746, when Intendant Tourny launched a French-style garden project to provide the Bordeaux people with a place to relax and trade. Inaugurated in 1756 on a plot of vines and vegetable gardens, it is designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel with a central basin, flowered beds, and aisles bordered by trees and lime trees. Two ionic portals, a royal ride, and a riding school complete this set, reflecting the urbanistic ambition of the time. The garden quickly became a place of sociability, welcoming even in 1784 an attempt to climb in a balloon that turned to riot.

Under the Revolution, the garden was transformed into a field of Mars: the beds disappeared in favor of lawns, and it served as a framework for civic celebrations and military manoeuvres. The large trees, the only preserved elements, bear witness to this troubled period. The site regained a political vocation on 20 July 1789, when 30,000 Bordelais gathered there to celebrate the capture of the Bastille and enlist in the National Guard.

In 1856, landscaper Louis-Bernard Fischer rearranged the garden in a romantic English style, with winding aisles, a piece of water, and footbridges adapted to crinolines. It incorporates a botanical garden structured according to the taxonomic principles of the era, and plants rare species such as white-tailed redwoods or Virginia tulip trees. The architect Charles Burguet adds monumental greenhouses (demolated in 1933), statues, and a terrace, while the park becomes again a popular place of Bordeaux elites, with animations for children and a temporary dairy-vacherie.

The 20th century marked a heritage evolution: the garden was listed as historic monuments in 1935 for its gates and gates, some statues were restored or replaced, and modern works (such as the bust of François Mauriac by Zadkine) were installed there. In 1970, 7,500 gold leaves were used to restore the grids of the Verdun course. Today, the park houses remarkable trees, such as a 31-metre-long marsh cypress, and remains a symbol of Bordeaux life, between historical heritage and biodiversity.

Around the garden, private hotels such as the Hotel de Lisleferme (present-day museum of natural history) and archaeological elements, such as the cromlech of Larvaut transferred in 1875, enrich its environment. The multiple entrances (Course of Verdun, Place Bardineau) and the remains of the old greenhouses recall the metamorphoses of this place, passed from a royal garden to a democratic public park.

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