The Tour du Greffe in Bordeaux is said to be one of the oldest belfries in France, a remnant of the ancient city walls dating from the 13th century.
The “Great Bell” in this tower was cast in 1775 and weighs 7750 kilograms. It is rung six times a year at 11:00 a.m., on these days:
- January 1 (New Year’s Day)
- May 1 (Labor Day/May Day)
- May 8 (Victory in Europe Day, end of the Second World War)
- July 14 (Bastille Day, French National Holiday)
- August 28 (beginning of the grape harvest?)
- November 11 (Armistice Day, end of the First World War)
La Grosse Cloche (The Great Bell)
Location and aerial view on monumentum.fr.
My photos in this post are from 2014. I revised the text in 2019.
See more posts on Bordeaux, France.
Beautiful monument , on one of the wish list for my retirement, been there very often. The city is up here in many ways just a TV program on it, wonderful Bordeaux. Cheers
I bet that’s worth hearing – must be an impressive sound!