Description
One of France's most important ports in the 18th century, located on the Garonne River. It was a crucial center for the wine trade and played a significant role in colonial trade, including the slave trade, which brought great prosperity to the city.
Year of Foundation or Oldest Source
Origins in Roman antiquity (Burdigala). Reached its commercial peak in the 18th century.
Country (State or Region)
France
Location
Bordeaux, Gironde, on the banks of the Garonne River, about 100 km from the Atlantic Ocean.
Structuring
Extensive river/estuarine port along the river bend (Port de la Lune). Development of monumental quays in the 18th century (e.g., Quai des Chartrons, Quai Richelieu). The Chartrons district, initially a faubourg (suburb), was the birthplace of the city's international trade. Construction of specialized warehouses, such as the Entrepôt Réel des Denrées Coloniales (Entrepôt Lainé), completed in 1824, for products like sugar and coffee. The construction of the Pont de Pierre (1819-1822) marked a physical and functional division in the port. Development of avant-ports (outer ports like Pauillac, Blaye, Le Verdon) occurred mainly from the late 19th century and in the 20th century to accommodate larger ships.
Notes
Second largest slave trade port in France, with about 500 documented expeditions, playing a central role in triangular trade. World-renowned center for the region's wine trade. Reached the height of its prosperity in the 18th century, driven by trade with the West Indies colonies (especially Saint-Domingue), dealing in sugar, coffee, indigo, and enslaved people. Represented a significant portion of French exports (up to 41% in the late 1780s). The accumulated wealth financed the construction of the neoclassical facade of the quays and numerous hôtels particuliers (urban mansions) of merchants and shipowners. The Académie des Sciences de Bordeaux promoted competitions and debates on topics related to race and slavery in the mid-18th century. The loss of Saint-Domingue and the Napoleonic Wars severely impacted the port in the early 19th century, leading to a reorientation towards African and Asian colonies. The city's colonial and slave-owning legacy has been the subject of increasing debate and memorialization in recent decades.
Sources
ARCHIVES BORDEAUX MÉTROPOLE. Archives de Bordeaux Métropole. [s.d.].; BASTIDE NIEL. La Bastide: mutations historiques. [s.d.].; BORDEAUX PORT. Historique. [s.d.].; CAUNA, Jacques de; HUBERT, François; BLOCK, Christian. Bordeaux au XVIIIe siècle: Le commerce atlantique et l'esclavage. Paris: Festin, 2010.; CURRAN, Andrew S. The Anatomy of Blackness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011. (Sample); DONALD, Maia. Faubourg and Centre-Ville: The Chartrons District and the Development of the Port of Bordeaux in the Eighteenth Century. Senior Thesis, Barnard College, [s.d.].; HISTOIRE-IMAGE.ORG. Le Port de Bordeaux. [s.d.].; JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY. The dark side of agglomeration. 2020.; MARNOT, Bruno. Ports as Tools of European Expansion. Encyclopédie d'histoire numérique de l'Europe [online], 2020.; MARZAGALLI, Silvia. Atlantic Trade and the Economy of Eighteenth-Century Bordeaux. 2016.; MARZAGALLI, Silvia. Was warfare necessary for the emergence of Bordeaux...? 2018.; MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE BORDEAUX. Le port de Bordeaux. Dossier pédagogique. [s.d.].; OXFORD BIBLIOGRAPHIES. French Port Cities. 2011.; PATRIMOINE NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE. Ports de l'estuaire de la Gironde. [s.d.].; STEIN, Robert Louis. The French Slave Trade in the Eighteenth Century: An Old Regime Business. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1979.; 4 TANDFONLINE. Confronting Colonial Modernity in a French City. 2023.; TANDFONLINE. Race, Racism and Coloniality. 2024.; UN AIR DE BORDEAUX. Les quais de Bordeaux hier et aujourd'hui. 2019.; WIKIPEDIA. Port de Bordeaux; Histoire de Bordeaux. [s.d.].
