Pézenas
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Pézenas |
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| Town hall | |
  Pézenas
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Languedoc-Roussillon |
| Department | Hérault |
| Arrondissement | Béziers |
| Canton | Pézenas |
| Intercommunality | Hérault Méditerranée |
| Mayor | Alain Vogel-Singer (2008–2014) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 3–96 m (9.8–315 ft) (avg. 15 m/49 ft) |
| Land area1 | 29.56 km2 (11.41 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 7,443 (1999) |
| - Density | 252 /km2 (650 /sq mi) |
| 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. | |
Pézenas is a commune in the Hérault département in Languedoc-Roussillon, southern France. At the 1999 census, its population was 7443.
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Name
"Pézenas" is derived 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 château. Inhabitants of Pézenas are Piscenois.
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 site.
Monuments
The French Ministry of Culture lists 115 historical edifices in Pézenas. The main sights include:
- 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
- Musée de Vulliod Saint-Germain : museum with collections illustrating the town's history and a room dedicated to Molière. The hôtel particulier that hosts the museum was donated to the city by François, Baron de Vulliod, during the Second World War.
- Door museum
Transportation
- Road: Route nationale 9, which used to pass through the town centre, has been replaced by a bypass which now forms the final few miles of the A75 autoroute from Clermont-Ferrand, soon to be extended the last few miles to join the A9 at Béziers.
- Rail: The 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.
- Air: The nearest international airport is Béziers Cap d'Agde Airport. Daily flights to Paris ceased in early 2009 but, since 2008, international services to the UK and Denmark have been established. Montpellier, Nîmes, Perpignan and Carcassonne are all within easy reach. A small grass airstrip is nearby at Nizas.
Famous people
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 February 1933), French middlewight boxing champion
- Bernie Ripoll MHR (b. 6 January 1966), Australian politician, Member for Oxley, Queensland
People linked with Pézenas
- Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) (1622–1673), playwright, stayed in Pézenas with his theatre group l'Illustre Théâtre.
- Gabriel François Venel (1723–1775) chemist, author of l'Encyclopédie méthodique de chimie (1796), inventor of seltzer water, lived and worked in the town and has a street named after him. (See French wikipedia article)
- Edmond Charlot (1915–2004), editor in Free French Algiers during the 1940s, and discoverer of Albert Camus, lived in Pézenas from 1980.
- Lord Clive (1725–1774) stayed in the town in 1768, supposedly giving it the recipe for the petit pâté de Pézenas
- Alexandra Rosenfeld Miss France 2006 and Miss Europe 2006, (born in Béziers and living in Saint-Thibéry, is studying tourism in Pézenas)
- Jean-Baptiste Pillement, a Rococo painter, famous for his chinoiserie and landscapes.
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
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.
Twin towns
Pézenas is twinned with Market Drayton, UK, birthplace of Lord Clive.
References
- Bibliography
- Bonnefont, Marie Elise Pézenas: le temps d'une balade (Bonnefont, 2003) ISBN 2-9520940-0-4
- Notes
External links
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