Pessac (; ) 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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

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 ...

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

Bordeaux Montaigne University Bordeaux Montaigne University (, ; formerly ''Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3'') is a public university in Pessac, France, approximately 8 kilometres (5 miles) southwest of the city centre of Bordeaux. It forms part of the ComUE d' ...

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 ...

Geography

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

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

Gradignan Gradignan (; ) 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 Education institutions ...

Canéjan Canéjan (; , before 1987: ''Canéjean'')Décret du 13 mai 1987 ...

Cestas Cestas (; ) 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 *Communes of the ...

Saint-Jean-d'Illac Saint-Jean-d'Illac (; ) 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 534 communes of the Gironde department o ...

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

History

The Hôtel de Ville was established in 1868. Early in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(June 22, 1940), the town was the scene of a quadruple execution on the firing range of Verthamon. Four communist militants, one of whom, Roger Rambaud, was 17-years-old, were among the escapees from the military prison in Paris, were killed secretly by soldiers of the Third Republic. This case, classified "Secret Defense" for 70 years, was revealed by historian Jacky Tronel, in a 2010 article in the history journal Arkheia, which focuses on the history of the French Great South-West region.

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, alth ...

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

Bordeaux wine regions The wine regions of Bordeaux in France 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 ...

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

. File:Haut Brion exterior.jpg,

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

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 ...

Cité Frugès

Built by

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

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 World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

since 2016. File:Cité Frugès, Pessac 08.jpg File:Cité Frugès, Pessac 01.jpg

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, Hôtel de Ville (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 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Alouette * Collège

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

(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. He came to prominence during the later period of the poetic realism movement o ...

* Collège Pessac (Noès) * Collège Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc Assomption 3 High schools * Lycée Pape-Clément: financed by the

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

, " Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine" and "

Bordeaux Métropole Bordeaux Métropole () is the ''métropole'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Bordeaux. It is located in the center of the Gironde department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, in South West France. It represents about half ...

"; was presented as the high school of the year 2000. It 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. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, then

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Its initial capacity was 1,100 students including 900 "demi-pensionnaires". It was expanded in 1990 and now holds 1,475 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 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Philadelphe de Gerde

Transportation

Pessac has a railway station on the westbound line from Bordeaux, Gare de Pessac. Pessac is also served by the urban transport network of the Bordeaux agglomeration,

Transports Bordeaux Métropole Transports Bordeaux Métropole (, 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 ...

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

Tramway de Bordeaux The Bordeaux tramway network (, ) 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 Bordeaux's modern tramwa ...

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 sponsor ...

, socialist minister * 1938:

Jean Eustache Jean Eustache (; 30 November 1938 – 5 November 1981) was a French film director and editor. 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 ...

, film actor and director (d. 1981) * 1953: Patrice Brun, historian * 1979: Myriam Korfanty,

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

player, Olympian

Twin towns - sister cities

Pessac is twinned with: *

Banfora Banfora is a city in southwestern 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 Abidj ...

, Burkina Faso *

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

, Spain *

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, 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 river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

, Romania *

Göppingen Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

, Germany *

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a concelho, municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo District, Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 85,778, in an area of . The urbanized are ...

, Portugal

References

External links

* (in French) {{Authority control Communes of Gironde