Impasse de la Merci

The Impasse de la Merci is a narrow, stone-walled dead end that cuts into the dense fabric of the Bordeaux city center. It takes its name from the Order of Mercy, a religious group that built a monastery here in the early seventeenth century to house monks who ransomed Christians held captive abroad. While the monastery buildings were cleared away long ago, the path remains, squeezed between tall facades that hold the quiet air of a place tucked away from the riverfront.