The Aspe Valley is a valley in the French part of the Pyrenees, department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Geography

It is one of the three valleys located in the historic region of upper

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

, along with the Ossau Valley to the east and Barétous Valley to the west. The valley of Aspe stretches for 25 miles along the river Gave d'Aspe, roughly going from the town of

Escot Escot may refer to: * Escot, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France * Escot, Talaton, England People with the surname * Hagre l'Escot (fl. 1360s), Scottish mercenary captain * Pozzi Escot (born 1933), Peruvian musician See also * Ascot (disambiguation) ...

to the Spanish border where it meets the Aragon Valley, named after the Spanish river. Thirteen towns, or communes, are established in the valley. From the north to the south, these are:

, Lourdios-Ichère, Sarrance, Bedous,

Osse-en-Aspe Osse-en-Aspe is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrativ ...

, Aydius, Accous, Lées-Athas, Lescun, Cette-Eygun, Etsaut, Borce and Urdos.

Language

The traditional dialect spoken in the valley is Gascon, a regional variety of Occitan language.

History

The region has been invaded by many groups through its history: Moors, Romans, Germanic tribes, as well as kingdoms in Spain. In 1620, the sovereign state of

, in which the valley was located, was annexed by the kingdom of France. During the Peninsular War in 1808, the troops of Napoleon passed through the valley while invading Spain.

References

{{Coord, 42.9500, N, 0.6000, W, source:wikidata, display=title Valleys of France Landforms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques