Pézenas

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Coordinates: 43°27′38″N 3°25′25″E / 43.4605555556, 3.42361111111

Commune of Pézenas

Town hall of Pézenas
Location
Pézenas (France)
Pézenas
Administration
Country France
Region Languedoc-Roussillon
Department Hérault
Arrondissement Béziers
Canton Pézenas
Intercommunality Communauté d'Agglomération Hérault Méditerranée
Mayor Alain Vogel-Singer
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation 3 m–96 m
(avg. 15 m)
Land area¹ 29.56 km²
Population²
(1999)		 7,443
 - Density 251/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 34199/ 34120
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France
Staircase in Pézenas
Staircase in Pézenas

Pézenas is a commune of the Hérault département, in southern France.

Contents

[edit] Name

From the older name Piscenae, probably from the Latin word piscenis, meaning fishpond. According to legend, there was a lake full of fish behind the Chateau. Inhabitants of Pézenas are Piscenois.

[edit] Origins

The origins of Pézenas are unclear, but were influenced by three factors: water from the River Peyne, an ancient pre-Roman route from Rodez to Saint-Thibéry and a defensive hill.

[edit] Monuments

  • The old town centre with narrow streets and Hôtel Privet (rather grand Town Houses from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, when Pézenas was the Seat of The Governors of Languedoc).
  • The Collégiale Saint-Jean church (18th century), designed by Jean-Baptiste Franque, contains an organ by Lépine.
  • Church of Saint-Jean-de-Bébian, romanesque, classed as a Monument historique (Historic monument).
  • The church of Sainte-Ursule, built in 1686 by the master mason Antoine Carrier, became the parish church after the Concordat.
  • Molière Monument (1897) by Jean-Antoine Injalbert.
  • L'illustre Théâtre, theatre in converted warehouse, open all year
  • Vulliod Saint-Germain museum: collections illustrating the town's history and a room dedicated to Molière.
  • Door museum

[edit] Transportation

  • Rail: Nearest main line station is Agde. Two single track lines used to serve Pézenas. The track from Béziers has been removed, though the station (Gare du Nord) still exists as a cultural centre. The line from Vias, near Agde, is still used occasionally by freight trains from a quarry further north, but the Gare du Midi station is closed.

[edit] Famous people and Pézenas

Paulhan's monument
Paulhan's monument

Pézenas was the birthplace of

  • Boby Lapointe (1922-1972): writer, singer, comedian
  • Louis Paulhan (1883-1963): pioneering French pilot
  • Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918), geographer, regarded as the father of modern French geography
  • Emile Mazuc (b. 24 July 1832), author of Languedoc dialect grammar - Grammaire Languedocienne:Dialecte de Pézénas (1899, reprinted 1970 by Slatkine Reprints, Geneva)
  • Hippolyte Annex (b. 14 July 1933), French middlewight boxing champion
  • Bernie Ripoll MHR (b. 6 January, 1966), Australian politician, Member for Oxley, Queensland

People linked with Pézenas

[edit] Local specialities

  • Le petit pâté de Pézenas: a small sweet/savoury pie supposedly made to a recipe from Clive of India. (see below)
  • Le berlingot de Pézenas: boiled sugar sweets

[edit] Le petit pâté de Pézenas

The size and shape of a large cotton reel, these little pies are a golden brown, crispy pastry with a moist, sweet inside. They can be eaten as an hors d'oeuvre, with a salad or as a dessert. They are cooked in patisseries all over the town, but their origin is far from local. Tradition has it that Lord Clive brought the recipe from India and taught it to the pastry makers of Pézenas when he was staying at the Chateau de Larzac in 1768. It is more likely is that his servants were responsible. The recipe is:

Ingredients
 200g lean roast mutton
 100g sheep suet
 75g lard
 250g flour
 5 soup spoons of brown and white sugar
 lemon peel
 salt and pepper

Method
 1.  Mince the mutton, fat, sugar, lemon peel, salt and pepper.
 2.  Mix together the lard, flour, a pinch of salt and a little water.
 3.  Knead to a smooth dough,   roll out and make small cylindrical pots.
 4.  Fill with the stuffing.
 5.  Leave to rest for 24 hours.
 6.  Cook in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes.
 7.  Serve warm

The same filling is also used in Tourte de Pezenas, made with flaky pastry.

[edit] Twin town

Pézenas is twinned with Market Drayton, UK, birthplace of Lord Clive.

[edit] References

  • Bonnefont, Marie Elise Pézenas: le temps d'une balade (Bonnefont, 2003) ISBN 2-9520940-0-4

[edit] External links

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