The Palais Rohan is the name of the Hôtel de Ville, or City Hall, of Bordeaux. In 1771, the new Archbishop of Bordeaux, Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec, prince of Rohan, decided to rebuilt the old medieval archbishopric, not enough worthy of its rank.
Designed by the architect Richard-François Bonfin, it took 13 years to build and was completed in 1784. It is a hotel particulier, entre cour et jardin (between Courtyard and Garden), and features an austere Louis XVI-style façade. Its staircase is considered a masterpiece of stone masonry.
After the French Revolution, the building housed in 1791 the Gironde department prefecture before becoming the Bordeaux Town Hall in 1835.
Designed in 1889, the municipal council room is characteristic of official architecture during the Third Republic.
The garden, initially designed in the French formal style, now takes on an English landscape style. Since 1880, it has been bordered by two wings that house the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux.
References:The Cathedral of Saint Mary Major, often called Lisbon Cathedral or simply the Sé, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Lisbon, Portugal. The oldest church in the city, it is the seat of the Patriarchate of Lisbon. The cathedral has survived many earthquakes and has been modified, renovated and restored several times. It is nowadays a mix of different architectural styles.
The site where it stands was the principal mosque of Lisbon when it was an Arab settlement. The construction of the cathedral started around 1150, three years after the city was conquered from the Moors during the Second Crusade. Shortly after the victory the English knight Gilbert of Hastings was named bishop of the city of Lisbon.
One good reason to visit the Cathedral is to visit its charming cloisters located in the back. There are several tombs in the cathedral, the most notable of which is the beautifully sculpted tomb of Lopo Fernandes Pacheco and his wife.