Travel Guide Bazas

Located on the ancient Bordeaux-Toulouse Roman road, the ancient Cossium was the birthplace of the father of the Latin poet Ausone. A stronghold from the 4th century and a bishopric from the5th century, the town of Bazas soon boasted a major religious edifice. In the 11th century, Pope Urban II consecrated a new place of worship. In the 13th century, the powerful bishop Arnaud de Pins restored the cathedral in Gothic style. In the Middle Ages, the city was an important trading center and a stopover on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, as well as a battleground between the English and the French during the Hundred Years' War. From the 16th to the 19th century, the town was famous for its glassworks, fine examples of which can be seen in the collections of the apothecary's of the Hôpital Saint-Antoine, where visiting pilgrims were welcomed. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Saint-Michel earthenware factory benefited from the quality of the local clay. During the same periods, tanneries used water from local springs. Bazas is a charming town with a rich architectural heritage that has marked the ages, and is now a key stop-off point in the Sud Gironde region. Since 1998, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral has been listed by Unesco as a site on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, and more specifically the Vézelay route. Meat lovers will also appreciate Bazas for its famous bœuf gras, a true institution of the Gironde region, which gives rise to the traditional Bœufs Gras festival every Thursday before Mardi Gras.