Bazas (; oc-gsc, Vasats) is a commune in the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1, ...

department in southwestern

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 ...

Geography

Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the Beuve valley 60 km/37 mi southeast of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

and 40 km/25 mi southwest of

Marmande Marmande (; in Occitan, ''Marmanda'') is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne ''département'' in south-western France. Geography Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the southern railway from Bordeaux to Sète. The town is situate ...

History

As ''Cossio'', it was capital of the ancient tribe of the ''Vasates'', and under the Romans one of the twelve cities of

Novempopulania Novempopulania (Latin for "country of the nine peoples") was one of the provinces created by Diocletian (Roman emperor from 284 to 305) out of Gallia Aquitania, which was also called ''Aquitania Tertia''. Early Roman period The area of Novem ...

, when it was known as ''Civitas Vasatica'' In later times it was capital of the district of Bazadais, and was the seat of the bishop of the

diocese of Bazas The Diocese of Bazas, centred on Bazas in Aquitaine, covered the Bazadais region, known under the Romans as the ''Vasatensis pagus'' after the ancient occupants, the Vasates. In the 2nd century it was part of the Novempopulania, one of the sev ...

from at least the beginning of the 6th century until 1790. And for 250 years prior to 1057, the Bishop of Bazas bore the title of Bishop of Aire,

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax Ca ...

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

, Oloron and

Lescar Lescar (; oc, Lescar) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium, the l ...

. According to

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florent ...

, Bazas had a bishop at the time of the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area bet ...

invasion in the 5th century. The dedication of the cathedral to St. John the Baptist is explained in an account given by the same historian that a lady of Bazas, whom certain hagiographers of the 19th century believe to have been

St. Veronica Saint Veronica, also known as Berenike, was a woman from Jerusalem who lived in the 1st century AD, according to extra-biblical Christian sacred tradition. A celebrated saint in many pious Christian countries, the 17th-century '' Acta Sanctoru ...

, brought from Palestine a relic of St. John the Baptist at the time of that saint's death.

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...

(1088–99) preached the crusade at Bazas. Bazas was a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

until 1926, when it lost this role to Langon.

Population

Sights

The town has a Gothic cathedral dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries, now part of the Unesco

World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France UNESCO designated the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France as a World Heritage Site in December 1998. The routes pass through the following regions of France: Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Ile-de ...

.868 - Chemins de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle en France
Unesco, 2016. There are remains of ramparts (15th and 16th centuries) and several old houses of the 16th century. (Phot

Saturday morning markets are well worth seeing. The area is also home to the Clementin Castles, built by

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

for himself and his family. You can visit around Bazas: * Château de Roquetaillade * Château de Villandraut * Château de Fargues * Château de Cazeneuve

Economy

The vineyards of the vicinity produce

white wine White wine is a wine that is fermented without skin contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour. Whi ...

. The town carries on tanning and trade in the well-known Bazadais cattle.

Transport