Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby () is a
commune in the
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...
department in the
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 ...
region of south-western
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arouetarrak''.
Geography
Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby is located in the
former Basque province of
Soule
Soule (Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan: ''Sola'') is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. It is divided into two cantons of the arrondi ...
some 10 km east of
Saint-Palais and 10 km south of
Sauveterre-de-Béarn
Sauveterre-de-Béarn (, literally ''Sauveterre of Béarn''; oc, Sauvatèrra; eu, Salbaterra Bearno) is a medieval village perched above the Gave d'Oloron and facing the Pyrenees in south-western France. It is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atl ...
. Access to the commune is by the D11 road from
Domezain-Berraute
Domezain-Berraute ()[DOMINTXAINE-BERROETA]
Etcharry
Etcharry (; eu, Etxarri)[ETXARRI]
Charritte-de-Bas
Charritte-de-Bas (; eu, Sarrikotape)[SARRIKOTAPE]
Google Maps
/ref>
Located in the Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of the Adour, the commune is traversed from south to north by the ''Lafoure'' (a tributary of the Saison
Saison (French, "season," ) is a pale ale that is highly carbonated, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high levels of alcohol. ...
) with its tributary the ''Hourquet'' and the ''Lauhirasse'' with its tributary the ''Thiancoenia erreka''.[
]
Places and Hamlets
* Abbadie (château)
* Aïntcia
* Aitzaguer
* Aroue
* Bagardoy
* Bartulague[Géoportail](_blank)
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...
Toponymy
The commune name in basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous c ...
is ''Arüe-Ithorrotze-Olhaibi''.
Jean-Baptiste Orpustan indicated that ''Ithorots'' possibly signified "source of cold water" and ''Olhaïby'' "the ford of the huts".
'' New Basque Toponymy''
ref name="Orpustan">Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
''New Basque Toponymy''
Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006, on the page numbers indicated in the table.
*Raymond
Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ...
:''
''Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees''
1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. [''Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees'']
Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011
*Cassini: Cassini Map
The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Ca ...
from 1750[Cassini Map 1750 – Ithorrots]
/ref>
*EHESS (1):
*EHESS (2):
Origins:
*Duchesne: Duchesne collection volume CXIV[Duchesne Collection, volumes 99 to 114, containing the papers of Oihenart, former Imperial Librarian - ]Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national reposito ...
*Ohix:'' Contracts retained by Ohix, Notary of Soule
Soule (Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan: ''Sola'') is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. It is divided into two cantons of the arrondi ...
*Luntz:
*Military: Military Inspection of Béarn[Manuscript from 1376 in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques ]
*Languedoc: Confessions of Languedoc[Confessions of Languedoc in the Archives of the Empire ])
*Reformation: Reformation of Béarn[Manuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques ]
*Arthez-Lasalle: Titles of Arthez-Lassalle[Titles of the Arthez-Lassalle family at ]Tardets
Tardets-Sorholus (; eu, Atharratze-Sorholüze)[ATHARRATZE-SORHOLÜZE]
History
Paul Raymond noted on page 11 of his 1863 dictionary that Aroue was one of the seven districts of Soule and depended on the ''messagerie'' of Barhoue. There was a Lay Abbey
Lay may refer to:
Places
*Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada
*Lay, Loire, a French commune
*Lay (river), France
* Lay, Iran, a village
* Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community
People
* Lay (surname) ...
at Ithorots, vassal of the Viscounts of Soule. The fief of Olhaïby was a vassal of the Viscounts of Soule and its owner was one of ten ''potestats'' of Soule.French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
, undoubtedly because in the Béarnais region, Aroue was the only Basque commune to adopt the Jacobin
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = P ...
anti-religion policy.
Between 1790 and 1794 Ithorots commune was merged
Administration
List of Successive Mayors
Inter-communality
The commune is part of eight inter-communal structures:
* the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque
The communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque ( eu, Euskal Hirigune Elkargoa), is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, cities of Bayonne and Bia ...
;
* the AEP association of Pays de Mixe;
* the AEP association of Pays de Soule;
* the educational regrouping association of Arbérats-Sillègue, Arbouet-Sussaute, Aroue, and Etcharry;
* the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
* the inter-communal association for the functioning of schools in Amikuze;
* the joint forestry association for oaks in the Basque and béarnais valleys;
* the association to support Basque culture.
Demography
In 2017 the commune had 240 inhabitants. The population data given in the table and graph below for 1968 and earlier refer to the former commune of Aroue.
Economy
The town is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...
(AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty
Ossau-Iraty is an Occitan- Basque cheese made from sheep milk.
Origin
Ossau-Iraty or Esquirrou is produced in south-western France, in the Northern Basque Country and in Béarn. Its name reflects its geographical location, the Ossau Valley in B ...
.
Culture and Heritage
Civil heritage
The village has architecture typical of the eastern Basque Country: gable roofs covered with tiles, whitewashed walls with houses from the 16th century.
As in many Basque villages, the fronton is adjacent to the church.
Religious heritage
Two churches are registered as historical monuments:
*The Church of Saint-Étienne at Aroue (12th century) is a Romanesque church rebuilt in the 19th century. There is a sculpture from the 12th century of Saint Jacques on a horse and a Spanish image of "Matamoro".
*The Church of Saint-Samson at Ithorots (19th century)
*The Church at Olhaïby has several items that are registered as historical objects:
**A Retable
A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...
over the main altar (18th century)
**A Candlestick (17th century)
**An altar cross (18th century)
**A tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
at the main altar (18th century)
**A candlestick (18th century)
**Statuettes (18th century)
**A Painting: The Martyrdom of Saints Cyr and Judith (18th century)
**A Tabernacle, Retable, 2 Candlesticks, Statues, Altar Cross, and Painting (18th century)
**A Processional Cross (18th century)[Ministry of Culture, Palissy ]
Environmental heritage
The town lies on the GR 65
The GR 65 is a long-distance walking route of the Grande Randonnée network that extends from the French Prealps, across south central France, through the Pyrenees.
The French name for this GR route is the ''Chemin de Saint-Jacques'' and the ...
. It is at the beginning of the 7th section of the GR which is listed by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
as World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The presentation file to UNESCO locates the commune on the Via Podiensis
The Via Podiensis or the Le Puy Route is one of the four routes through France on the pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Great in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwest Spain. It leaves from Le-Puy-en-Velay and crosses the countrysid ...
on the Way of St. James
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Sai ...
. There is no real historical justification for this but it is an important fact for this small town. Justification was found by Dr. Urrutibetehy, the pioneer who traced the paths in the region (it was he who set up the so-called ''Stele of Gibraltar'' and made a point of convergence of these paths). He saw in the horseman shown on the lintel of the door of the sacristy, a representation of Saint Jacques Matamoros.
Notable people linked to the commune
*Franz Duboscq, born in