Pessac (; ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to

Bordeaux Montaigne University Bordeaux Montaigne University (French language, French: ''Université Bordeaux Montaigne''; formerly ''Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3'') is a Lists of universities in France, public university in Pessac, France, approximately 8 kilom ...

and the

Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux, also known as Sciences Po Bordeaux, is a French grande école located on the university campus of Pessac, Bordeaux. It is attached to the University of Bordeaux. Established in 1948, Sciences Po Bordeau ...

Geography

Pessac is located in the south of the Bordeaux metro area and is surrounded by

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

Gradignan Gradignan (; oc-gsc, Gradinhan) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Bordeaux and is located on its southwest side. Thus, it is a member of the Bordeaux Métropole. Population Educa ...

, Canéjan,

Cestas Cestas (; oc-gsc, Cestàs) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Economy Cestas Solar Park was the biggest solar park in Europe when Neoen opened it in December 2015. See also *Co ...

Saint-Jean-d'Illac Saint-Jean-d'Illac (; oc-gsc, Sent Joan d'Ilhac) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde department The following is a list of the 535 communes of the ...

and

Mérignac Mérignac may refer to : ;Places * Mérignac, Charente, a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France * Mérignac, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France * Mérignac, Gironde, a commun ...

. The western part of the commune is part of the Landes de Bordeaux.

History

Early in World War II (June 22, 1940), the town was the scene of a quadruple execution on the firing range of Verthamon. Four communists militants, one of whom, Roger Rambaud, was not yet 17, were among the escapees from the military prison in Paris, were killed in the utmost secrecy by soldiers of the Third Republic. This case, classified "Secret Defense" for 70 years, has recently been revealed by the historian Jacky Tronel in the history magazine Arkheia.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods of Pessac : * Verthamon * Les échoppes * Brivazac - Candau * Noës * Pessac-bourg * Casino * Sardine * Chiquet * Compostelle - La Paillère * Le Monteil * CCLAPS - La Chataigneraie * Saige - Formanoir * 3 M (Macédo, Mirante, Monbalon) * France - L'Alouette * Cap de Bos * Magonty - Romainville * Toctoucau

Heritage

Wineries

Located on the

Pessac-Léognan Pessac-Léognan () is a wine growing area and Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, in the northern part of the Graves region of Bordeaux. Unlike most Bordeaux appellations, Pessac-Léognan is equally famous for both red and (dry) white wines, althou ...

appellation, there are several wineries, including the oldest of the

Bordeaux wine regions The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the ...

château Haut-Brion Château Haut-Brion () is a French wine, rated a ''Premier Grand Cru Classé'' ( First Great Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of ...

. File:Haut Brion exterior.jpg,

Château Haut-Brion Château Haut-Brion () is a French wine, rated a ''Premier Grand Cru Classé'' ( First Great Growth), produced in Pessac just outside the city of Bordeaux. It differs from the other wines on the list in its geographic location in the north of ...

File:Photographie Château les Carmes-Haut-Brion.jpg,

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion Château les Carmes Haut-Brion is a Bordeaux wine estate located in the AOC Pessac-Léognan within the region of Graves. In addition to producing a red ''grand vin'' named Château les Carmes Haut-Brion, the estate produces the red second wine ...

File:Si le vin manque, il manque tout 5.jpg,

Château Pape Clément Château Pape Clément is a Bordeaux wine from the Pessac-Léognan appellation, ranked among the ''Crus Classés'' for red wine in the Classification of Graves wine of 1959. It is the oldest wine estate in Bordeaux, harvesting its 700th vintag ...

Cité Frugès

Built by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

in 1926, the district is an experimental housing for workers. This is one of the 17 architectural works of Le Corbusier listed as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

since 2016.

Casino district

Quarter built in the 1900s with a resort city architecture. File:Pessac - Girofla.jpg, Villa Girofla File:Pessac - Mimosa.jpg, Villa Mimosa File:Pessac - Villa Tour.jpg, Villa Tour File:Pessac - Booz.jpg, Villa Booz File:Pessac - Radieuse.jpg, Villa Radieuse

Others

File:Pessac - Mairie.jpg, Town hall File:Pessac - Église.jpg, Church of Saint Martin File:Pessac - Music.jpg, Music school File:Moulin de Noès.jpg, Moulin de Noès File:Pessac - Demeure.jpg, Castel du bourg, private house

Population

Education

9 Kindergartens 15 Grade schools 5 Middle schools *

Collège In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Alouette * Collège

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

(Ladonne) * Collège

Gérard Philipe Gérard Philipe (born Gérard Albert Philip, 4 December 1922 – 25 November 1959) was a prominent French actor who appeared in 32 films between 1944 and 1959. Active in both theatre and cinema, he was, until his early death, one of the main ...

* Collège Pessac (Noès) * Collège Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc Assomption 3 High schools * : financed by the French government and the Communauté urbaine de Bordeaux (CUB), this school, presented as the high school of the year 2000, was inaugurated on 9 July 1987 by

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

, then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Its initial capacity was 1,100 students including 900 "demi-pensionnaires". It was expanded in 1990 and now holds 1,260 students. * Lycée Sans Frontière *

Lycée professionnel In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

Philadelphe de Gerde

Transportation

Pessac has a railway station on the westbound line from Bordeaux,

Gare de Pessac Pessac is a railway station in Pessac, a western suburb of Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The station is located on the Bordeaux–Irun railway line. The station is served by TER (local) services operated by SNCF. The Pessac Centre tram sto ...

. Pessac is also served by the urban transport network of the Bordeaux agglomeration,

Transports Bordeaux Métropole Transports Bordeaux Métropole (or TBM, formerly Tram et bus de la CUB, or TBC) is a public transport system for the 28 ''communes'' of Bordeaux Métropole Bordeaux Métropole is the ''métropole'', an intercommunal structure, centred on t ...

(TBM). Pessac is located on line B of the

Tramway de Bordeaux The Bordeaux tramway network (french: Tramway de Bordeaux) consists of four lines serving the city of Bordeaux in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The system has a route length of , serving a total of 133 tram stops. The first line of ...

Personalities

* 1929:

Yvette Roudy Yvette Roudy (born 10 April 1929) is a French politician. She served as a member of the National Assembly from 1986 to 1993, and from 1997 to 2002, representing Calvados. She was the Minister of Women's Rights from 1981 to 1986. She sponsore ...

, socialist minister * 1938:

Jean Eustache Jean Eustache (; 30 November 1938 – 5 November 1981) was a French filmmaker. During his short career, he completed numerous short films, in addition to a pair of highly regarded features, of which the first, ''The Mother and the Whore'', is c ...

, film actor and director (d. 1981) * 1953:

Patrice Brun (historian) Patrice Brun, (born 1953, Pessac) is a French historian, a specialist of ancient Greece and epigraphy. His research focuses on the history of classical and Hellenistic Greece. He was president of the Bordeaux Montaigne University between 2009 a ...

* 1971: Thierry Poulain-Rehm, university * 1979: ,

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player * 1980: (18 August) ,

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

Twin towns - sister cities

Pessac is twinned with: *

Banfora Banfora is a city in south western Burkina Faso, with a population of 117,452 (2019 census) making it the sixth most populous city in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of the Comoe province. The city lies south-west of Bobo-Dioulasso, on the Abid ...

, Burkina Faso *

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

, Spain *

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

, Romania *

Göppingen Göppingen ( Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the b ...

, Germany *

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 88,725, in an area of 319.02 km². The urbanized area of the municipality, comprising the city, ...

, Portugal

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Communes of Gironde