Place de la Bourse

“This Place Royale is simply a half Place Vendôme, beside the water...”
Victor Hugo

Vue perspective de la place royale
© Mairie de Bordeaux

This monumental ensemble opens on the River and comprises the Hôtel de la Bourse and Hôtel des Fermes. It was started in 1728 by architect Jacques Gabriel V before his son Ange Gabriel took over in 1745, and designed to surround an equestrian bronze of King Louis XV. Its architecture is typically French with high archways on the ground floor, two floors, an acroterion, entablature and slate covered mansard roofs. The façades are flanked with a colossal order of building pillars and a colossal order of columns for angle and central pavilions. Both gables of the Douane building, former Hôtel des Fermes, were sculpted by Van der Woort, and angled gables of the Place and quay are by Claude Francin.

The Fontaine des Trois Grâces at the centre of the Place is by Alphonse Gumery who was assisted by sculptor Amédée Jouandot. Based on sketches by Ludovico Visconti, it was inaugurated in 1869 and replaced the bronze equestrian statue of Louis XV, masterpiece of Jean-Baptiste Lemoine, melted during the Revolution.