Mériadeck

Mériadeck is a district of relatively recent aspect of Bordeaux, of modern architecture. It is connected since December 21st, 2003 to the downtown area by a tram.

The district owes its name to the cardinal prince of Rohan, Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec, Archevêque of Bordeaux which made there build the Palais Rohan in 1771 (which, in 1835, will become the town hall) and which offered the grounds to the city, then with narrow within its geographical limits inherited the Moyen-âge. It is a modern district, primarily commercial and administrative. For a long time, this part of the city was only one vast marsh bordering the city. But the diseases due to the presence of this marsh (and in particular the plague) led to the 17th century to its draining. At the 19th century, graver S are built there and a poor, working population and artisane settle there. closed houses, coffee S and Bal S animate this cosmopolitan district. The Expression: it is Mériadeck here! (that of bazaar here!) remain in some Girondines families and recalls of this fact the Mériadeck old man.

In 1955, the municipality directed by Jacques Chaban-Delmas decides the total restoration of this poor district. The project envisages the construction of buildings " barres" typical of these years. In 1963, the restoration becomes reorganization and the Mériadeck district will be finally the Quartier of businesses of Bordeaux with commercial and administrative modern buildings, as well as sports equipment (skating rink…). Many administrations and services are gathered in these large buildings, of which the height was finally limited, built around a central garden. Moreover, the motor vehicle traffic and that of the pedestrians were separated by construction from a flagstone, the current esplanade Charles de Gaulle. The assessment of this operation is disputed.

This district nowadays shelters shopping malls, the Urban community of Bordeaux, the prefecture of the area Aquitaine, the general advice of the the Gironde and certain services of the Treasury. This district wanted by Jacques Chaban-Delmas has many detractors, in particular because of the architecture of the district (typical of the Années 1960 - 1970), of the separation of the cars and the pedestrians and the massive use of the concrete. However certain more recent buildings (as the district council of Aquitaine) tend to renovate the growing old architecture of this district. This district nevertheless had positive points; it in particular allowed the construction of administrative buildings and commercial near the center town without degrading the historical architecture of the Bordeaux old man.

The districts around Mériadeck are composed of many graver S, houses on a floor typically of Bordeaux, which accommodate inhabitants of the middle-class. It is also with some steps of the center " officiel" , i.e. Gambetta Place (where a terminal is hones some from which classifications leave the houses), together XVIIIe which slices with the modern architecture of the Mériadeck district.

the Mériadeck district in images

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