This first-ever maritime fair marked the centenary of the birth of steam navigation on August 17, 1807, in the USA. It was held in Bordeaux, with the Champagne pavilion among its main attractions.
The exhibition showcased the considerable efforts made by the participating nations to develop their naval and merchant marine forces.
Exhibition layout, together with construction of most if not all the exhibitor pavilions, was the work of Parisian architect Tournaire, designer of the Petit Palais at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair. The result was a homogeneous whole that made the most of the relatively small site available—a sumptuous array of buildings, anchored by the Place des Quinconces, itself dominated by a Grand Palais and the pavilion des Grandes Marques de Champagne.
