Tour Pey-Berland

Built separately from Bordeaux Cathedral in the 15th century, Tour Pey-Berland stands 66 metres tall next to Cathedrale Saint-Andre on the square that carries its name. It was built apart from the main church because the cathedral's foundations couldn't bear the added weight of a bell tower. Climbing the 233 steps leads to two terraces, at 40 and 50 metres, that open onto the city's historic centre: the cathedral's flying buttresses just below, the grid of 18th-century stone roofs, and on clear days the Garonne curving through Bordeaux. A statue of the Virgin Mary was added to the tower's summit in the 19th century.