Gradignan is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France . It is a suburb of the city of Bordeaux and is located on its southwest side. Thus, it is a member of the Bordeaux Métropole .

Sights

Places and monuments 

Castles 

• Poumey castle. The origins of the castle go back to 1784 but the current building was built in 1860 by a family of English merchants, settled in Bordeaux . In 1945, new owners acquired the vineyard, renewed it and this is how the Poumey cru won many awards. In 1987, the castle was put up for sale. Today Poumey ( 13  ha) produces a red vintage and an exceptional vintage called “La Sérénité”. In 2010, 13,996 bottles of wine were produced from the four plots located in Poumey, Ornon, Bragues and Sabatey (belonging to the municipality).
• Ornon Castle. Built in the xix ^th  century, the castle took the eponymous name of the place where he is but has no connection with the old Castle County Ornon. A long single storey main building is framed by two pavilions. The slate roofs are high. The bays are surrounded by a plain frame except the front door, the frame of which is molded. Formerly a wine estate, the château had vineyards.
• Mandavit Castle. Former castle of Gay, it takes its name from Raymond Mandavit, trader from Bordeaux , mayor of the town from 1795 to 1800 and owner of the estate. The castle is however earlier than this date. The main facade shows a certain research in the arrangement of the windows: the three central bays are very close together, while the other two are offset towards the ends. Oval oculi illuminate the floor, the middle one is in a vertical position, the others in a horizontal position. Today it houses the municipal school of municipal music.
• Hermitage Castle. Remains of the old hospice which became the priory ofCayac , established on the pilgrimage route to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle and mentioned in 1234  ; it depended on the Sainte-Croix abbey in Bordeaux and was listed as a historical monument in 1937 and 1987. 
• Malartic Castle. Built in the xviii ^th  century, it is a much simpler architecture than other castles of the town.
• Chateau Lahouneau. It already existed at the end of the xviii ^th  century. Its owner was Sieur Yauge in 1770, a Bordeaux merchant whose correspondence tells us that he came to dine on Sundays at Lahouneau with his friends. A plan from the time indicates that the building and its outbuildings were surrounded by a large garden, woods and vines.
• Chateau La Burthe. Built by family Select at the xix ^th  century, on land in the neighboring castle that belonged to the grandmother of Francois Mauriac , and sold it to Mark, a family allied to ECOMARD , the Maupassant-Bartelemy. The castle has become a center for the disabled .

Historical and architectural heritage 

• The Saint-Albe castle mound
• The Saint-Albe washhouse
• Pottery
• The Ornon mill
• The Mongaillard mill
• The Moulineau mill
• The Cazeaux mill
• The priory of Cayac
• The Chappe tower or Chappe telegraph
• Laurenzane estate

Natural heritage

• Gradignan has more than twenty parks and green spaces . We can cite Mandavit, René-Canivenc or Montgaillard park. More than 450  hectares of wooded areas have been identified, including 203  hectares divided into 20 municipal parks, i.e. more than 115  m ² of public green spaces per inhabitant.

• Mandavit Park (47 ha)
• René-Canivenc Park (former Moulineau park) (8.5 ha)
• Montgaillard Park (5.7 ha)
• Pelissey Park (3.5 ha), right bank of the Eau Bourde
• Parc de l’Ermitage (9.5 ha)
• Laurenzane Park (town hall park) (7.5 ha)
• Cayac Park (8.5 ha)
• Saint-Albe Park (5.5 ha)
• Parc du Moulin d’Ornon (3 ha)
• Tannerie Park (7.3 ha)
• Sabatey Park (15 ha)
• Cotor-Laburthe Park (43 ha)
• Anduche Park (7 ha)
• Poumey Park (3 ha)
• Papaya Wood Park (19 ha)
• Bragues Park (3.5 ha)
• Château d’Ornon Park (3 ha)
• Crabette Park (2.5 ha)
• Catoy Park (1.5 ha)
• Gazaillan Park (3 ha)
• Pierral garden (300m²)
• The House of Nature

Cultural heritage 

The Georges-de-Sonneville museum

Located in one of the emblematic places of the city of Gradignan, the priory of Cayac, an exhibition of the works of the one who remains the great painter of the Roaring Twenties in Bordeaux , creator of the Salon des Indépendants , Georges de Sonneville. This is the pretext to explore the evolution of art in the xx ^th  century, from a pedagogical point of view through different exhibitions.

The Vine and Wine Ecomuseum

The Vine and Wine Ecomuseum, located in the heart of the Sabatey park ( 15  ha ) presents an exhibition of the tools used between 1850 and 1950 as well as a communal vineyard classified AOC pessac-Léognan . It is a museum to touch, smell and taste where young and old will have fun discovering the marks of human work imprinted on the tools of winegrowers.

The library

The media library, place of culture, enrichment of knowledge and animation around books, images and sound. “Open form of the traditional library”, the media library is part of modernity, by its architecture, by its principle of free access to documents and above all because it adapts to technological developments: computerization, introduction of digital technologies. information and communication, new media: sound, music, video, multimedia.

The theater of the Four Seasons

With a capacity of 400 seats, this room is a veritable all-wood auditorium, which can be transformed thanks to a double configuration of the stage, into a theatrical space. Until 2014, the theater organized with the town hall the “Fifth Season” and offered several free and open-air shows in the parks and streets of the city.

Events

• Lire en Poche , annual national paperback meeting , the first exhibition specializing in the small format of paper books, created in 2005 at the will of mayor Michel Labardin, who wishes to support the birth of the future media library, and studies opportunity and achievement of Jean-Luc Furette, professor at Bordeaux III (IUT professions of the book). The event takes place the first weekend of October and is now part of the calendar of literary events recognized by professionals in the book trade. The attendance of some 23 000 people during the 10 ^th  edition highlights its popular success. In addition, the organization of the show, the town hall of Gradignan and theCrédit Agricole has been working with the Lycée des Graves for several years as part of a news competition that involves the school’s volunteer students. Thus, two writing workshops are organized at the Lycée des Graves in the presence of managers of the Lire en Poche fair , staff (library teachers and / or teachers) of the school as well as a writer.
• Passenger bags , a recurring annual campaign to pollinate pocket-sized books in useful places familiar to the public and private of Gradignan, in partnership with the publishers of the fiction and non-fiction pocket collections .
• The Comic Strip Weekend , a comic strip festival organized by the Phylactère association and which has taken place every year since 2004 .
• Play is a completely free eclectic festival dedicated to current sporting, artistic, digital and cultural practices. It takes place at the beginning of July each year. This festival was born in 2011 at the initiative of the city of Gradignan which entrusted its management to the public establishment for the animation of young people in Gradignan (EPAJG).
• The Sport and Nature Festival has always been designed as the great outdoor festival of Gradignan, a spring festival for the discovery of the privileged nature of this city. This is a stroll along the Eau Bourde, between the parks of Cayac, Saint-Albe and Montgaillard, knowing that the morning is reserved for hiking and orienteering in Mandavit and the afternoon in discoveries and activities, especially for children, such as pocket book fishing.
• The Chocolate Fair , with the presence of artisan chocolatiers from Gironde and the Grand Sud-Ouest region, of which 2015 was the sixth edition .
• The Music Festival takes place every year in June in the city center of Gradignan. It welcomes young people from the music school as well as local groups.