Saint-Michel Basilica, Bordeaux

Saint-Michel Basilica, Bordeaux tickets: which one to buy

Saint-Michel is the church of a working quarter south of the centre of Bordeaux, and it comes as part of a neighbourhood rather than as a monument on its own. Entry to the church is free, while the detached bell tower is ticketed and opens only in the warmer months, which is the single most important thing to check before building a plan around it. Walking tours of the quarter combine the basilica with the covered market nearby and the flea market that fills the surrounding squares, and food-led tours use the same route, since this is where the North African, Portuguese and Spanish communities of the city shop.

Pilgrim itineraries treat it as one of three Bordeaux churches inscribed with the routes to Santiago de Compostela, alongside the cathedral and Saint-Seurin, and usually visit all three in a morning. The tram runs to the door, so independent visits are simple. If your only interest is the tower climb, go straight there and skip the organised options, because the ticket desk at the tower base rarely has a long line.

Visiting Saint-Michel Basilica, Bordeaux: what to see

The church is flamboyant Gothic, built between the late fourteenth and the sixteenth centuries by the trade guilds of the quarter rather than by a bishop, and the chapels along the aisles were paid for and decorated by them. The stained glass is nearly all modern, because the medieval windows were destroyed in the bombardment of 1940 and replaced from the 1950s onwards by leading French glassmakers, so the interior light is unexpectedly saturated and abstract. A carved pulpit shows Michael dispatching the dragon.

The belfry stands apart from the church, which is unusual in France, and rises about 114 metres, the tallest in the south-west, its upper spire rebuilt in the 1860s. Roughly two hundred and thirty steps lead to a gallery with a view across the curve of the Garonne, the eighteenth-century waterfront and the roofs of the quarter. The crypt beneath the tower once displayed dozens of naturally mummified bodies, found when an overcrowded graveyard was cleared in the eighteenth century and exhibited to the public until 1979, when they were finally buried.

Saint-Michel Basilica, Bordeaux opening hours and the best time to go

Sunday morning is when the quarter is at its best and its busiest. The flea market spreads across the squares around the church, the cafes are full, and the whole place has an atmosphere closer to a southern port than to the grand stone streets north of here. If you want the building quiet, come on a weekday morning instead. The tower is open daily through the summer and at reduced times in spring and autumn, closing altogether in winter and during high winds, and the stair is narrow with no lift.

Late afternoon gives the best light from the top, with the river turning and the bridges lined up. Evening visits are fine, the area is lively, and the market hall nearby serves oysters and white wine until late. The tram system puts the church within ten minutes of the main shopping street and the cathedral, so it fits easily into a day that also covers the wine museum on the northern quays.