Piliers de Tutelle

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The Pillars of Tutelle were an important Gallo-Roman monument built in the third century at the approximate location of the southwest corner of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. It was composed of 24 columns surmounted by an archetrave, enhanced by an arcade coronation adorned with caryatides. It was destroyed in 1677 when the Château Trompette was transformed into a bastioned citadel.

Description: The Tutelle Pillars were a Gallo-Roman monument of the Severian style consisting of 24 Corinthian columns arranged in rectangle. The plan, together with an overall picture, was preserved by the architect Claude Perrault (1613-1688). It was a rectangle 30 meters long and 20 meters wide. It was supported by a double penbate. It was surrounded by 24 columns: 8 on length and 6 on width. They were 12 metres high, with 1.35 metres in diameter and an intercolumn of 2.10 metres. The capitals of the columns supported an architrave; It overhanged the right of each column to accommodate 44 caryatids 3 meters high. These caryatids had their heads under the impostes of the arcades and at the right of each caryatid, there was...