Basilique Saint-Michel

Gothic church with the second largest tower in France

featured in Sights & Sites

Imposing on the Place Canteloupe in Bordeaux, this Gothic church took over 200 years to construct from the 14th to the 16th century.

Providing one of the most iconic views in the city, its 15th-century bell tower reaches up 114 metres and is the highest tower in southern France. Similar to the Pey-Berland tower, the tower is independent from the church.

Its base retains a crypt that was formally an ossuary (final resting place), and then used as an exhibition for "mummies" unearthed in the nineteenth century during the development of the Place Meynard, which was the former parish cemetery. The church Saint-Michel - became a minor basilica in 1903 - is now on the list of UNESCO World Heritage since 1998 under the road to St Jacques de Compostela in France.