Some things go unnoticed because they are part of the landscape. The Flèche Saint-Michel, as you walk down toward the river from cours Victor-Hugo, is visible from very far away: 114 metres of Gothic limestone, the second-tallest spire in France after Strasbourg cathedral. What you tend not to notice is that it isn't attached to the Saint-Michel basilica the way you'd expect. It stands completely apart, 20 metres away, on its own foundations, independent. A rare architectural phenomenon in northern Europe. And under the tower, a crypt long held around 70 bodies preserved as natural mummies. Welcome to one of the most unusual spots in the city.
A free-standing campanile, an architectural oddity
The general rule in French Gothic churches is that the bell tower (with or without a spire) is attached to the nave or the choir. This is the case in nearly every cathedral of the kingdom, Chartres, Amiens, Reims, Paris. In Bordeaux, the Saint-Michel basilica went its own way from the start. Its spire was designed as an independent tower, an Italian-style campanile, set at a distance from the main building. The choice evokes the medieval towers of Tuscany or the campanili of Venice more than the French Gothic tradition. The complex took its current shape over several centuries: the basilica built between the 14th and 16th centuries, the tower raised alongside from 1472 onwards and completed with its final spire in the 19th century, after a long restoration campaign.
Why is the spire detached?
The answer is geological. The Saint-Michel district sits on a marshy subsoil, a mix of clay and limestone, loose and saturated with water because of the Garonne nearby. The foundations of the basilica itself required wooden piles driven very deep to hold. Under these conditions, adding a heavy spire directly onto the nave risked collapsing the building. The 15th-century architects therefore chose to separate the tower and give it its own foundations at a distance. The result: two religious buildings belonging to the same parish complex, but physically disjoined. A bizarre solution that gives Place Meynard its unique face. The tower has shifted a bit over time, leaning slightly here and there, but still stands. The 1860s restoration (led by Paul Abadie, the architect who also restored Notre-Dame de Paris and designed the Sacré-Cœur of Montmartre) stabilised the whole complex.
The mummies in the crypt
Now for the macabre part. The same geological quirk that forced the tower to stand alone also produced an extraordinary preservation effect in the crypt. From the 17th century onwards, when city authorities gradually banned parish cemeteries in the centre, workers digging under the Flèche Saint-Michel unearthed an impressive collection of naturally mummified corpses, preserved by soil that absorbed moisture and prevented organic decomposition. About 70 bodies from various periods: 16th-century burghers, notaries, a priest, a young woman still dressed in a fine gown, several children who had died in infancy. All perfectly identifiable, skin tanned, hair and clothing intact. In the 19th century, the crypt became a near-obligatory tourist stop for travellers passing through Bordeaux. They went down to see "the mummies of Saint-Michel", in an atmosphere half morbid, half scientific. The practice ended in 1979: deemed disrespectful to the dead, the display was banned and the mummies removed from public view (they have since been kept in a dedicated ossuary chapel).
Climbing to the top today
The good news: the Flèche is open for visits. Around 3 euros entry, 194 steps up a spiral staircase, open from April to October depending on the year (check the opening hours, they vary with ongoing restoration work). At the top, on a terrace at 47 metres, you get a rare view over the slate rooftops of the old city, the Quinconces, the basilica below, and the Garonne. It's one of the best viewpoints in the city. The crypt itself can sometimes be visited during guided tours organised by the Tourist Office. A strange moment, halfway between medieval stone and tales from beyond the grave. For more Bordeaux stories in the same vein, see our panorama of 5 places hiding another life, or our article on the Palais Gallien, that Gallo-Roman cousin forgotten in the middle of central Bordeaux.
How to get there
Address: place Meynard, 33800 Bordeaux (Saint-Michel district). Tram C or D, Sainte-Croix or Porte de Bourgogne stop, then 5 minutes on foot. The best time to go is late Saturday morning, when the surrounding flea market is at full swing. Combine the visit with a walk through the Saint-Michel antique dealers and a drink on a terrace of Place Meynard.
