Bordeaux’s Chartrons District, Bordeaux, France

Bordeaux’s Chartrons District is north of the centre, where many of its wine merchants settled and where you’ll find the City of Wine, Bordeaux’s newest attraction.

The Golden Triangle may be where Bordeaux spent its money, but it was made in the Chartrons district to the north of the city centre. Like much of Bordeaux it was originally marshland (one reason the city has no Metro system is because of its boggy origins), first cleared by the Carthusian monks who settled here in the 14th century and gave the area its name.

This is where the wealthy wine merchants lived, settling here because it was then outside the city walls, allowing them to avoid paying city taxes, while the area also backed on to the River Garonne for easy transport. The wine families built themselves suitably impressive mansions, many with cellars where they could age the wine from their vineyards that surrounded the city.

The wine trade is no longer here, but many of the mansions remain, some in private hands, some converted into chic hotels and apartments, with antique shops and art galleries lining the streets. The Chartrons is a pleasant and quiet part of the city in which to wander or to be based, even though there’s nothing much to see other than the streets and buildings themselves. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).