Pessac

Commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

(2020–2026) Franck Raynal^[1]Area38.82 km² (14.99 sq mi)Population66,760 • Density1,700/km² (4,500/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal codeElevation12–56 m (39–184 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Pessac (French pronunciation: [pɛsak] ^ⓘ; Occitan: Peçac) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest suburb of Bordeaux and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to Bordeaux Montaigne University and the Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux.

Geography

Pessac is located in the south of the Bordeaux metro area and is surrounded by Bordeaux, Talence, Gradignan, Canéjan, Cestas, Saint-Jean-d'Illac and Mérignac.

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.^[3]

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods of Pessac :^[4]

Heritage

Wineries

Located on the Pessac-Léognan appellation, there are several wineries, including the oldest of the Bordeaux wine regions, château Haut-Brion.

• 
  Château Haut-Brion
• 
  Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion

Cité Frugès

Built by Le Corbusier 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 since 2016.^[5]

Casino district

Quarter built in the 1900s with a resort city architecture.

• 
  Villa Girofla
• 
  Villa Mimosa
• 
  Villa Tour
• 
  Villa Booz
• 
  Villa Radieuse

Others

• 
  Town hall
• 
  Church of Saint Martin
• 
  Music school
• 
  Moulin de Noès
• 
  Castel du bourg, private house

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 1,430 —     1800 1,336 −0.97% 1806 1,414 +0.95% 1821 1,349 −0.31% 1831 1,502 +1.08% 1836 1,341 −2.24% 1841 1,708 +4.96% 1846 1,785 +0.89% 1851 2,094 +3.24% 1856 2,334 +2.19% 1861 2,537 +1.68% 1866 2,676 +1.07% 1872 4,743 +10.01% 1876 3,103 −10.06% 1881 3,227 +0.79% 1886 3,759 +3.10% 1891 3,944 +0.97% 1896 4,411 +2.26%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 4,239 −0.79% 1906 4,612 +1.70% 1911 5,234 +2.56% 1921 6,691 +2.49% 1926 8,268 +4.32% 1931 10,706 +5.30% 1936 13,004 +3.97% 1946 17,769 +3.17% 1954 19,226 +0.99% 1962 24,281 +2.96% 1968 36,986 +7.27% 1975 51,360 +4.80% 1982 50,267 −0.31% 1990 51,055 +0.19% 1999 56,143 +1.06% 2007 57,851 +0.38% 2012 59,223 +0.47% 2017 63,808 +1.50%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source: EHESS[6] and INSEE (1968-2017)[7]

Education

9 Kindergartens

15 Grade schools

5 Middle schools

• Collège Alouette^[8]
• Collège François Mitterrand (Ladonne)
• Collège Gérard Philipe^[9]
• Collège Pessac (Noès)^[10]
• Collège Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc Assomption^[11]

3 High schools

• Lycée Pape-Clément [fr]:^[12] financed by the French government, "Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine" and "Bordeaux Métropole"; was presented as the high school of the year 2000. It was inaugurated on 9 July 1987 by Jacques Chirac, then Prime Minister. 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 Philadelphe de Gerde^[13]

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 (TBM).

Pessac is located on line B of the Tramway de Bordeaux.

Personalities

• 1929: Yvette Roudy, socialist minister
• 1938: Jean Eustache, film actor and director (d. 1981)
• 1953: Patrice Brun (historian)
• 1971: Thierry Poulain-Rehm, university
• 1979: Myriam Borg-Korfanty [fr], handball player
• 1980: (18 August) Julien Lescarret [fr], matador

Twin towns - sister cities

Pessac is twinned with:^[14]

See also

• Château Haut-Brion
• Pessac-Léognan, wine appellation
• Communes of the Gironde department
• Operation Josephine B, a 1941 attack on an electricity substation.

References

External links