Bordeaux (Burdigala)

Gaul

Bordeaux, ancient Burdigala, is a port on the Garonne in southwestern France and today the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Under Rome it was a commercial centre with schools of rhetoric and grammar, where the 4th-century poet Ausonius taught before being summoned to the imperial court; his pupil Paulinus, later bishop of Nola, was born in the city. After Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future Henry II of England, Bordeaux was ruled by the English crown until 1453. Its archbishop Bertrand de Got was elected Pope Clement V in 1305, and a university was founded in 1441. The city later grew rich on Atlantic trade and wine, and its historic port is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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