Pessac

Pessac
Chateau of Haut Brion
Flag of Pessac Flag Coat of arms
Pessac
Location within Aquitaine region Pessac
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Gironde
Arrondissement	Bordeaux
Canton	Pessac 1 Pessac 2
Intercommunality	Bordeaux
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Franck Raynal
Area1	38.82 km2 (14.99 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	57,632
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	33318 / 33600
Elevation	12–56 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. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Pessac (Occitan: Peçac) is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.

It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux and is adjacent to it on the southwest. It is a member of the metropolitan Urban Community of Bordeaux. Pessac is also home to the Montesquieu University, the 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 et Mérignac.

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

Mérignac, St-Jean-d'Illac	Mérignac	Mérignac, Bordeaux
St-Jean-d'Illac		Talence
St-Jean-d'Illac, Cestas	Canéjan	Gradignan

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 communist 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:

2

Population

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% 1793 1,430 —     1800 1,336 −6.6% 1806 1,414 +5.8% 1821 1,349 −4.6% 1831 1,502 +11.3% 1836 1,341 −10.7% 1841 1,708 +27.4% 1846 1,785 +4.5% 1851 2,094 +17.3%	Year Pop. ±% 1856 2,334 +11.5% 1861 2,537 +8.7% 1866 2,676 +5.5% 1872 4,743 +77.2% 1876 3,103 −34.6% 1881 3,227 +4.0% 1886 3,759 +16.5% 1891 3,944 +4.9% 1896 4,411 +11.8%	Year Pop. ±% 1901 4,239 −3.9% 1906 4,612 +8.8% 1911 5,234 +13.5% 1921 6,691 +27.8% 1926 8,268 +23.6% 1931 10,706 +29.5% 1936 13,004 +21.5% 1946 17,769 +36.6% 1954 19,226 +8.2%	Year Pop. ±% 1962 24,281 +26.3% 1968 36,986 +52.3% 1975 51,360 +38.9% 1982 50,267 −2.1% 1990 51,055 +1.6% 1999 56,143 +10.0% 2008 57,632 +2.7%

Education

9 Kindergartens

2

15 Grade schools

2

5 Middle schools

• Collège Alouette
• Collège François Mitterrand (Ladonne)
• Collège Gérard Philipe
• Collège Pessac (Noès)
• Collège Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc Assomption

3 High schools

• fr: 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, then Prime Minister. 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 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, Tram et Bus de la CUB (TBC).

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

Personalities

• 1929: fr, socialist minister
• 1938: Jean Eustache, film actor and director (d. 1981)
• 1971: Thierry Poulain-Rehm, university
• 1979: fr, handball player
• 1980: (18 August) fr, matador

International relations

Pessac is twinned with:

• Burgos, Spain
• Galați, Romania; since 1991.

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

• INSEE

External links

• Official website