Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Place Gambetta, formerly Place Dauphine, was created in 1746 under the impetus of the Marquis de Tourny, intendant of Bordeaux, as part of an urban beautification project. The works, entrusted to architects André Portier and Michel Voisin, began in 1758 and ended in 1770. The square adopts a classic style, with uniform facades made of cut stone, arcades on the ground floor and floors decorated with mascarons and wrought iron balconies. It became an 18th century Bordeaux urban model, marking the transition between the medieval city and its extension westward.

During the French Revolution, the square was renamed National Square in 1790 and became a place of public execution. The guillotine was installed there in October 1793, supervised by the Revolutionary Supervisory Committee and the Military Commission. Among the 302 victims of the Bordeaux Terror were girondin deputies like Elie Guadet, executed in 1794. Ironically, Jean-Baptiste-Marie Lacombe, president of the Military Commission, was himself guillotined there in August 1794 after the fall of Robespierre.

In the 19th century, the square changed its name several times: Place du Roi de Rome (1811–14) in homage to Napoleon II, then Place Gambetta in 1883, paying homage to the politician Léon Gambetta. In 1868, a monument project to the Girondins, proposed by architect Julien Guadet, was planned but finally realized elsewhere. The square, however, retains its central role in Bordeaux life, with the installation of a zero-point in 1890, marking the symbolic centre of the city.

In the 20th century, Gambetta Square remained a strategic crossroads, especially for public transport. At the Liberation in 1944, the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) marched there. In the 2000s, a directional staking reminiscent of Bordeaux twinning was installed, before being withdrawn during the contemporary redevelopment.

Between 2018 and 2021, the square underwent a major transformation led by West 8 agency and landscape designer Sabine Haristoy. The project, controversial for the slaughter of 17 chestnut trees, enlarged the green spaces (from 2,392 m2 to 3,851 m2) and partially pedestrianized the square. The 18th century facades, classified as historic monuments since 1927, are enhanced by new lighting. The central garden, once equipped with a pond, is replaced by a seasonal fountain.

The house of 26 Place Gambetta is part of this protected architectural complex. Its typical features — commercial ground floor, rectangular windows topped by frontons, and slate roof — reflect the classic Bordeaux style. Its history is inextricably linked to that of the square, a witness to the urban, political and social changes of Bordeaux since the Enlightenment.

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