Aire-sur-l'Adour (; oc, Aira d'Ador or simply ) is a commune in the

Landes ''Landes'', or ''Lanas'' in Gascon, means moorland or heath. ''Landes'' and ''Lanas'' come from the Latin ''plānus'' meaning “‘flat, even, level, plain’”. They are therefore cognate with the English plain (and plane), the Spanish word ''l ...

department,

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

, southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It lies on the river

Adour The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre (Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean ( Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. ...

in the wine area of southwest France. It is an

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

of the Diocese of Aire and Dax. The nearest large towns are Mont-de-Marsan to the north and Pau to the south.

History

Aire (''Atura'', ''Vicus Julii'') once was the residence of the kings of the Visigoths. Here in 506 Alaric II drew up his code, the '' Breviarium Alaricianum''. Famed

bullfighter A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activity ...

Iván Fandiño died in Aire-sur-l'Adour after being gored by a bull on 17 June 2017.

Sights

* Aire Cathedral, built in the 11th century but renovated in the 14th and 17th centuries. *The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church of ''Sainte-Quitterie'' is dedicated to Saint Quiteria, who, according to Christian tradition, was

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...

here in the fifth century. This church is on the

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

route called the Way of St. James.

Population

Personalities

* Pierrette Le Pen, mother of Marine Le Pen and ex-wife of

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

* Florian Cazalot,

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player, born 1985 in Aire-sur-l'Adour

Twin towns

* Castro-Urdiales, Spain

References

External links

History of CNES base
devoted to launch stratospheric balloons
Image of city's cathedral
Airesurladour World Heritage Sites in France {{Landes-geo-stub