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.

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Pessac
Commune
Chateau Haut-Brion
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Pessac
Pessac Show map of France Pessac Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 44°48′24″N 0°37′52″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Gironde
Arrondissement	Bordeaux
Canton	Pessac-1 and 2
Intercommunality	Bordeaux Métropole
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Franck Raynal[1]
Area 1	38.82 km2 (14.99 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	66,760
• Density	1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
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.

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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.

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 of Pessac :^[4]

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]

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.

• 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

Pessac is twinned with:^[14]

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