t was once a well populated village, dominated by the spire of the Sainte-Croix church; only becoming part of the fortified city at the beginning of the XIVth century.
The flat-bottomed river boats that worked the Garonne river delivered the wood. Bordeaux built few ocean going ships, they were generally bought from abroad.
The large mill of Sainte-Croix, neighbouring the Abbey was built on the Sainte-Croix river.
In this quarter could be found: rue des Bouviers, with the cattle for working the quays and pulling the loads from boats. The rope makers with their hemp, the cobblers working the leather from Bazas, the potters in the rue Des Fours...
Towards the end of the XVIth century, large sugar refineries were built. The raw sugar arriving directly from the Caribbean.
Sainte-Croix was the seat of the Parish from 1130. Although the church choir was reserved for Benedictines, the transept was for the locals. The principal altar was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a pilgrim site for Notre-Dame-des-Marins; illustrations showed scenes of lost ships being saved.
The history of the quarter can still be felt through the names of the streets and the Sainte-Croix church.
