Les Bassins de Lumières in Bordeaux

Les Bassins de Lumières, Bordeaux: Where History Meets Art

Les Bassins de Lumières in Bordeaux is a place where history and art collide in the most unforgettable way.

Located in an old port district north of Bordeaux, this enormous building once served as a submarine base during World War II. It was originally built for Italian submarines, a massive structure designed to disappear from view.

The scale of it is hard to comprehend until you’re standing inside.

At its peak, 32 submarines could hide beneath the structure’s bomb-proof, iron-reinforced concrete roof, nearly nine feet thick. The space was built by an estimated 6,500 workers, many of whom were Spanish laborers, including Republican prisoners. The building itself was reinforced by 2,000 concrete piles driven deep into the ground, a reminder of both the engineering and the human cost behind its creation.

Today, the building still feels cold, dark, damp, and water-filled. The air carries a heaviness. You can feel the magnitude of what once existed there, as if the walls never fully released the past.

But what makes Les Bassins de Lumières so unique is what it has become.

The same space that once held submarines now holds art.

It has been transformed into an immersive digital art experience, open to the community and to travelers who stumble into this unexpected masterpiece of a museum. Projections stretch across towering walls, and the images reflect off the dark waters where submarines once anchored.

The effect is haunting and beautiful.

The feature on display during my visit invited visitors to “explore the universe without limits” and “let yourself be carried to the heart of the art,” showcasing works inspired by Monet, Renoir, and Chagall. Their colors and brushstrokes danced across the concrete chambers, turning an industrial war relic into something luminous and alive.

Standing there, watching historic art ripple across the water, it felt surreal.

A place once built for destruction now repurposed for beauty.

 

Living my best life.

Cheers to 2022.

jMf