La Teste-de-Buch

Sister cities

• Chipiona
• Schwaigern

History

The town is the site of a fictional battle during the Napoleonic wars depicted in Sharpe's Siege by Bernard Cornwell. The Hôtel de Ville was commissioned as a private residence and completed in 1680. The town council relocated to an administrative centre on the opposite side of the road in 2013.

Geography

La Teste-de-Buch is located in the department of Gironde, in the middle of the Landes forest, and south of Arcachon Bay. It is the capital of the Pays de Buch. Neighbouring communes are Gujan-Mestras to the east, Arcachon to the northwest, and Biscarosse and Sanguinet to the south. The Dune of Pilat is a famous landmark on the Atlantic coast, situated in the western corner of the commune. The seaside resort of Pyla-sur-Mer, the village of Cazaux, the bird refuge and sandbank of Arguin are also part of the town. The Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet is in the southeast corner, astride the departments of Gironde and Landes. The rest of the commune area consists of old dunes, where the natural forest has changed little over centuries. During World War I, an airfield was created near Cazaux for airplane pilots training (fighters and bombers). Most of the American volunteers pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille came to the "Camp de Cazaux" to finish their training as war pilots. When the U.S entered the war, the 36th Aero Squadron was based here.