Esplanade des Quinconces

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  • Address
    quai Louis XVIII, central Bordeaux
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The most prominent feature of esplanade des Quinconces, a vast square laid out in 1820, is the fountain monument to the Girondins, a group of moderate, bourgeois National Assembly deputies during the French Revolution, 22 of whom were executed in 1793 after being convicted of Counter-Revolutionary activities.

The entire 50m-high ensemble, completed in 1902, was dismantled in 1943 by the Germans so the statues could be melted down for their 52 tonnes of bronze. Restoration took years and was not completed until 1983.