Aquitaine Museum

If you walk along Cours Pasteur, you’ll see the imposing Aquitaine Museum on your right, it’s located on the site of the former Feuillants convent. Demolished during the Revolution, it became a secondary school, then a university and finally the Aquitaine museum. Its extensive collections retrace the history of Bordeaux and its region, from prehistory to the present day. You’ll find prehistoric art, including the famous Venus de Laussel, as well as pieces from the Tayac treasure trove, dating from the Iron Age, and more recent works such as Montaigne’s cenotaph, erected at the request of his wife and which is a true work of art. In 2009, the museum also opened new rooms, dedicated to Bordeaux’s part in the slave trade. Indeed Bordeaux rapidly became wealthy in the 17th and 18th centuries, thank to triangular trade expeditions. Mindful of its past, Bordeaux has over the last couple of years embarked on a major remembrance campaign, to restore the memory of all those who suffered under slavery.