Blanquefort (; Gascon: Blancahòrt) is a commune in the

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

department in

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

in southwestern France. Blanquefort is an outlying commune of the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

metropolitan area. The commune consists of historic Blanquefort and Caychac, which is further out from central Bordeaux and was formerly a commune in its own right. Historic Blanquefort includes the ruins of a small medieval fortress and a nineteenth-century park, the ''Parc de Majolan'', complete with a maze-like grotto and small artificial ruins which were in vogue at that time. Blanquefort is well connected to the rest of the agglomeration by the Bordeaux bus services, including services most of the night. It also has a train station with regular services to central Bordeaux. The Bordeaux tram system is projected to connect with Blanquefort in 2013. Blanquefort, which is located in a famous wine-producing area, has a notable educational institution for

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

History

The oldest signs of human habitation in the commune are pieces of pottery dating back to 2000 BC. This is in line with the very early settlement of all south-western France by pre-historic peoples (e.g. in the

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...

). A Roman military post was set up in the area, to ensure the security of the road to Noviomagus in the Medoc. Tiles and coins from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

occupation have been found around the site of the later fortress. In the ninth century, a first medieval fortification was built. The white stone gave the fort the name "White Fort", in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Blanca Fortis'', which evolved into the modern name Blanquefort. During the Plantagenet holding of Aquitaine, the fortifications were expanded into a royal fortress at the end of the thirteenth century by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

. At the end of the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a c ...

, the fortress became French. A wine-producing village grew around the fortifications, probably worked predominantly by

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

s. Blanquefort is located in a region which has been notable for wine production since ancient times. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number of small chateaux were constructed in the prosperous village by wealthy wine merchants. The economy of the village focussed on wine production. In the seventeenth century, the Château Dillon was built in Blanquefort by the Dillon family which migrated to Blanquefort from Ireland. During the French Revolution, as part of the central

, the village was loosely connected with the conflict between Gironde deputies and Jacobins in the national government. As with the other nearby areas, the village would probably have supported a moderate course for the revolution and there was probably support for the federalist constitutional proposals which were popular in

. The village was well within the territory of the federalist insurrection of 1793. Unfortunately, no historical records exist which discuss the politics of the village during revolution. In 1900, the population was 2000. From the beginning of the twentieth century, the reliance of the village economy on wine production became a problem as economic crises took their toll. In 1962, the now-impoverished village created an industrial zone on former marshland. Combined with its proximity to Bordeaux, this led to a rapid growth of the village, which was now becoming a suburb of expanding Bordeaux. In the early twenty-first century, as a result of Bordeaux's continuing expansion, new developments have been built to allow the population of Blanquefort to grow further.

Population

Economy

Since 1972, Blanquefort has been the location of a Ford transmission plant, which occupies a 103 ha site in the industrial zone. The plant was the result of an investment of 600 mIllion

French francs The franc (; , ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It ...

, expected to generate 2,000 jobs. Initially, it was built to manufacture Ford C3 automatic transmission units for Ford's European models, with engine sizes from 1300 cc to 3000 cc. Despite recent reports that the plant has been sold by Ford in response to their need for money, it will continue for now to supply transmissions to the company.

History

Population

Economy

See also