Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast

Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.Commune d'Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast (64010)
INSEE

The people of the commune are known as Aiziriztar.

Geography

Location

The commune is part of the Mixe country in the French Basque Country of Lower Navarre. It is located immediately north of Saint-Palais. Highway D29 runs north from Saint-Palais through the entire commune from south to north and passing through the town. The D529 Highway runs east from the commune to its junction with Highway D134. Highway D933 enters the commune in the southeast and runs north along the eastern side of the commune to exit in the north.Google Maps
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Hydrography

The commune is located in the Drainage basin of the Adour and is watered by the Bidouze, a tributary of the Adour, and it has its tributaries: the Joyeuse and the Eyherachar and Recalde streams.

Places and Hamlets

*Aguerria
*Ahano
*Aïcirits
*Aiherguy
*Berhouet
*Blazy
*Bordaberry
*Camou
*Capou
*Changartia
*Chourry
*Christy (2 place names)
*Coutrenia
*Elgartemix
*Enauthardy
*Errecaldia
*Escutary
*Esquilamborda
*Etchart
*Etchebestia
*Etchecoin
*Etchegorria
*Eyhera
*Eyherabidia
*Goyhenetchia
*Halsague
*L'Hippodrome
*Hourcadette
*Ihitzague
*Ilhardoy
*Jauberria
*Larrabure
*Larramendy
*Larrania
*Larrartia
*Longynia
*Mandachainia
*Mendiburia
*Mocoroua
*Oyhenart
*Sagaspe
*Salha
*Salle
*Suhast
*Tocoua
*Tolospia
*Ttarga (craft zone)

Géoportail
IGN

Climate

Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast was on 4 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 25 December 2001.

Toponymy

The commune's name in Basque is ''Aiziritze-Gamue-Zohazti''.

For ''Aïcirits'', Jean-Baptiste Orpustan proposed the Basque etymology ''aitz'', meaning "high" and ''aratze'', meaning "fern patch", giving "high fern patch" or "rocky fern patch".

He also indicated that ''Suhast'' may come from ''zuhaztoi'', meaning "plantation of trees".

The inhabitants of Camou are known as ''Gamuar'' and the inhabitants of Suhast are known as ''Zohaztiar''.

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

Sources:
*Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
'' New Basque Toponymy''
ref name="Orpustan">Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
''New Basque Toponymy''
Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006,
*Raymond:''
''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

Origins:
*Notaries: Notaries of Labastide-VillefrancheNotaries of La Bastide-Villefranche in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
*Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or ''Livre d'Or'' (Book of Gold)Manuscript from the 14th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
*Ohix:
*Navarre: Titles of the Kingdom of NavarreTitles of the Kingdom of Navarre in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
*Biscay: Martin Biscay
*Pamplona: Titles of PamplonaTitles published by don José Yanguas y Miranda

History

The commune Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast was formed in 1972 by the merger of the former communes Aïcirits and Camou-Mixe-Suhast. Between 1972 and 1984, this commune was referred to as ''Aïcirits''. The commune Camou-Mixe-Suhast was formed in 1842 by the merger of the communes Suhast and Camou-Mixe.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast

Administrative Associations

The commune is linked to the following administrative bodies (non exhaustive list):
*the catchment area of Saint-Palais
*Local Agency for Employment (ALE) of Biarritz
*the social welfare fund of Bayonne
*the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bayonne Basque Country
*the sanitation sector of Bayonne Saint-Palais-South-West-Landes
*the subdivision of the Departmental Equipment management of Saint-Palais-Bidache

Judicial Districts

The town depends on the district court of Bayonne, the High Court of Bayonne and the Court of Appeal of Pau.

Inter-communality

The commune belongs to six inter-communal structures:
*the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque
*the AEP union for the Mixe country
*the energy union of Pyrenees-Atlantiques;
*the intercommunal union for regrouping of teaching "Ikas bidea"
*the intercommunal union for the operation of the schools of Amikuze
*the union to support Basque culture.

Population

Data before 1972 in the table and graph below refer to the old commune Aïcirits, before the merger with Camou-Mixe-Suhast.

Economy

Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast is classified by the INSEE as part of the urban area ('' unité urbaine'') of Saint-Palais, and of the employment area of Oloron-Sainte-Marie.

The registered office of the Lur Berri company, a large food cooperative group, is located in Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast.

The town is part of the designated zone of Ossau-iraty.

It also hosts other companies in the agri-food sector as one of the first fifty two communes of the department:
*Union agricultural coop feed livestock (feed manufacturing for farm animals);
*Haraguy-Bayonne ham (industrial preparation of meat products);
*LBO (food production for farm animals);
*Lajournade SAS (industrial preparation of meat products).

Culture and heritage

Languages

According to the ''Map of the Seven Basque Provinces'' published in 1863 by Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, the dialect of Basque spoken in Aicirits-Camou-Suhast is eastern low Navarrese.

The village has a cave at Camou (the ''grotto Oltzibarre'') closely linked to the Basque legend of Txahalgorri, the young red bull.

Civil heritage

*The former Chateau of Camou (17th century). It contains collections of ancient tools and models of machines from plans of Leonardo da Vinci.

Religious Heritage

*The Church of Saint Martin(1841).Ministry of Culture, Mérimée

Notable People linked to the commune

*Martin Landerretche, born on 26 July 1842 at Bussunarits-Sarrasquette and died on 29 January 1930 at Espelette was a bascologue, a priest, writer and a Basque French academic in the Basque language. He was the pastor at Aïcirits.

See also

*Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

External links

AIZIRITZE-GAMUE-ZOHAZTI in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)

Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Aïcirits, Camou,'' and ''Suhast'' on the 1750 Cassini Map

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiciritscamousuhast
Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Lower Navarre