Ahetze

Ahetze () is a village and a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. The commune is part of the urban area of Bayonne, and of the traditional Basque province of Labourd.AHETZE
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Geography

Location

The commune is located some 13 km southwest of Bayonne and 30 km northeast of Donostia-San-Sebastion and only 4 km from the Atlantic beaches of Bidart and Guéthary.

Access

Ahetze village is at the intersection of departmental roads D655 from Arbonne to Bidart and D855 from Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle to Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The commune can be accessed from Exit 4 (Biarritz La Négresse) and Exit 3 (Saint-Jean-de-Luz nord) from the A63 autoroute.

The Biarritz–Anglet–Bayonne Airport is 15-minute drive from the village.

Hydrography

The river Zirikolatzeko erreka, a tributary of the Uhabia, flows through the commune, as well as several of its tributaries, including the Amisolako, Uroneko, and Besaingo.

Paul Raymond also stated in his ''Topographical dictionary of Bearn-Basque Country'' in 1863 that a tributary of the Alborga: the ''Haïstéchéhé'' flows through Ahetze after rising in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle.

Localities and hamlets

* Adamenea
* Aguerria
* Amizola
* Arrakotenea
* Belhardiko Errota
* Biperenborda
* Borda
* Dorrea
* Etxebiaga
* Haroztegia
* Harrieta
* Ithurbidea
* Ithurbidenborda
* Laharraga
* Larramendia
* Larreluzea
* Larretxeberria
* Larrunta or Larruntaldea
* Martikotenea
* Mulienea
* Olhagaina
* Ostaleriaborda
* Solorzano
* Uhartea
* Xaharrenea
* Ximikoenea
* Xirrikenea

Géoportail
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Toponymy

The commune name in Basque is also ''Ahetze''.

Jean-Baptiste Orpustan suggested that ''Ahetze'' comes from ''aiz'' meaning "stone" and by extension "high rock" (''see also: Ahaitz'').

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Sources:
* Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, ''New Basque Toponymy''
* Raymond: ''Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees'', 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011)
* Lhande: Pierre Lhande, ''Basque-French Dictionary'' 1926

Origins:
* Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or ''Livre d'Or'' (Book of Gold)Manuscript from the 14th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
* Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of BayonneChapter of Bayonne in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

According to Eugène Goyheneche:Eugène Goyheneche, ''Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Lower Navarre'', Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales et de diffusion, Pau, 1979, BnF FRBNF34647711 "two houses (…) had medieval names of ''Akarreta'' and ''Haranbillaga''".

History

In the Middle Ages the Compostela pilgrims who chose the passage along the Atlantic coast passed near Ahetze, Ibarron and the hospital (''Ospitale Zaharra'') in Sare. Others preferred to fork through part of Ahetze to reach the chapel Saint-Jacques of Serres and also visit Vera by passing by Olhette and the Ibardin Pass.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Ahetze

Inter-Communality

Ahetze is a member of 8 Intercommunal organisations:
* the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque
* the union of Ouhabia
* the intercommunal association of secondary schools of Saint-Jean-de-Luz
* the intercommunal association ''Nive-Nivelle''
* the mixed association of ''Bizi Garbia''
* the association to support Basque culture
* the joint association for drinking water from the Ura
* the joint sanitation association of the Ura

The commune is a member of the ''Basque Eurocity Bayonne - San Sebastian''.

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aheztars'' in French.

Economy

The flea market takes place every third Sunday of the month and regularly attracts lovers of antiques from the Paris region, to the Spanish communes all around and contributes to the economic revitalization of the village which has mainly agricultural activity.

The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.

Culture and heritage

Languages

The ''Map of the Seven Basque Provinces'' established by Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte in 1863 indicated that the Basque dialect spoken in Ahetze was Labourdin.

Festivals

Established in 1971, the Committee of Festivals of Ahetze (''Ahetzeko Mozkor Banda'') organises the following events: wheat threshing, dance evenings, a gala of Basque rural sports, ''loto'', and employers' festivals that take place between 25 October and 11 November.

Civil heritage

* The Ostalapia farm, now a restaurant, is a former way station on the road to Saint Jacques de Compostela and long before was a haven for the Guethariars and Bidartars when they were attacked by pirates from the ocean or by robbers. There are some boulders once used for walls in the parking area.
* Some old Baserri dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which have been extended over time. New construction follows the Labourdin style.

File:Ahetze Linteau 1655.JPG, Lintel dating from 1655
File:Ahetze Maison Réhaussée.JPG, House extension
File:Ahetze Harrieta.JPG, Modern Baserri (late 20th century)
File:Ahetze Maison basque.JPG, Basque House under a storm
File:Ahetze Stèle.JPG, Hilarri

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint Martin (16th century) is registered as an historical monument. The church contains a number of items that are registered as historical objects:
** A Retable and 7 Paintings (1700)
** A Processional Cross (15th century). This cross, whose arms are garnished with bells, was used in witchcraft trials in the year 1609 to the outrage of Councilor Lancre who saw it as an evil object. The carvings on the Cross represent the faces of Christ, the Virgin, Saint John, a pelican, and two women's heads. On the back of the cross there is the representation of a bishop, undoubtedly Saint Martin.
** A Statue: Virgin of the Assumption (18th century)
** A Statue: Saint Jacques dressed as a pilgrim (18th century)

Eugène Goyheneche noted that the church quite exceptionally possessed a register of Catholics in Basque.

;The Church Picture Gallery

File:Ahetze 2005-01-01.jpg, Church of Saint-Martin
File:Ahetze Rue.JPG, The bell tower seen from the village
File:Ahetze Statue.JPG, Entrance to the Church
File:Ahetze Aurore.jpg, The Church
File:Ahetze Cloches.JPG, Close up of the Bells in the church
File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl, Fr) Choeur de l'église.JPG, The choir of the church
File:AHETZE - Eglise Saint-Martin 02.jpg, Interior of the church
File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl, Fr) Autel.JPG, Altar with two pelerins of St. James
File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) Détail du retable, l'Annonciation.JPG, Altar piece detail: The Annunciation
File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) détail du retable, Anne salue Marie.JPG, Altar piece detail: Anna greeting Maria
File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) Vitrail Notre Dame du Rosaire, Mater purissima.JPG, Stained glass in the church
File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) Vitrail notre Dame du Rosaire, Rosa mystica.JPG, Stained Glass, Lady of the Rosary

Environmental heritage

On the heights of Ahetze all the Basque mountains near the Atlantic are visible: the Rhune, the Mondarrain, the Artzamendi, and the Ursuia in France as well as the ''Three Crowns'' in Spain.

File:Ahetze Mondarrain Artzamendi.jpg, View of the ''Mondarrain'' (750m) and the ''Artzamendi'' (906m)
File:Rhune Ahetze.JPG, La Rhune view from Ahetze
File:Trois Couronnes Ahetze.jpg, The Three Crowns, (Spain)
File:Ahetze Besaingo.JPG, The Besaingo erreka
File:Ahetze Moulin.JPG, Watermill on the Besaingo erreka

Facilities

Sports and sports facilities

Ahetze has two Frontons, one is old and built into the wall of the town hall, a second was completed in 2008 as part of the new development of the town.

A Trinquet called ''Pantxoa Sein'' is next to the primary school.

A marked ''fitness trail'' runs through the south-east of the village.

File:Ahetze Fronton.jpg, The Fronton next to the Town Hall
File:Ahetze Trinquet.JPG, Plaque at the entrance to the Trinquet

Education

Ahetze has a primary school and a nursery.

Health

Ahetze has several health services: a general practitioner, a dentist, a nurse, a physiotherapist, and a speech therapist.

Notable People linked to the commune

* , born on 11 November 1916 in Ahetze and died on 22 July 1981 in the same commune, was a Bertsolari (singer of bertso) renowned in French Basque Country.
* , born in California and died in 1982, was a North American Anthropologist who, during the 1960s, conducted the first research that highlighted specific Basque haematology with the entire population of the villages of Macaye and Ahetze.The results of these studies were published in 1967 (''The Basques Natural History'', New York, J. Dausset, L. Legrand, M. H. Levine M. H., J. C. Quilice, M. Colombani, J. Ruffié), 1972 (''Genetic Structure and Distribution of HL-A Antigens in a Basque village, in "Histocompatibility Testing"'', Copenhague, J. Ruffie, M. H. Levine, M. Blanc, P. Richard), 1972 (''A New lmmunoglobulin haplotype Gm (-1, -17, 21) in a Kurdish isolate and in a French Basque village'', M. H. Levine, J. Ruffie, H. Darrasse) and in 1973 (''Basque Isolation: I A Hemaypological Survey of Basque Villages'') These studies put in evidence in relation to the surrounding population the high frequency of blood group O and Rh negative and the particularities of distribution of Gm antigens and HL-A.

See also

* Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
* Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

Notes

References

External links

*

25 photos of Ahetze

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Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques