Aramits (; oc, Aràmits; eu, Aramitze) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

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 Atla ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 t ...

region of south-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aramitsiens'' or ''Aramitsiennes''. Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, Dictionary of place names - Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2009, Archives and Culture,

Geography

Location

Aramits is located in part of the Barétous valley, the westernmost of the three main valleys of Béarn crossing the Pyrenees. It is located some 15 km south-west of

Oloron-Sainte-Marie Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France. History The town was founded by the ...

and 3 km north of

Arette Arette (; oc, Areta) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. It is located in the arrondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie and the canton of Oloron-Sainte-Marie-1. Geogr ...

Access

Access is by the D919 road from Ance in the north-east to the village then continuing to Lanne-en-Baretous in the south-west. There are also the minor roads D659 from the village north to join the D159 on the northern border and the D133 which goes south from the village to

.Google Maps
/ref> Bus route 848 of the ''Inter-urban network of Pyrénées-Atlantiques'', which connects ''La Pierre Saint-Martin'' (a ski resort in

) to Oloron-Sainte-Marie, has a stop in Aramits.

Hydrography

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, the ...

of the Adour, the commune is bisected from south-west to north-east by : '' Le Vert'' a tributary of the

Gave d'Oloron The Gave d'Oloron is a river of south-western France near the border with Spain. It takes its name from the city Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where it is formed from the rivers Gave d'Aspe and Gave d'Ossau. It joins the Gave de Pau in Peyrehorade to f ...

which gathers many tributaries of its own in the commune including the Aurone, the Lancy, the Littos, the Talou Gros, and also by the ''arrècs'' of Bugalaran, Bitole (as well its tributary the Rachet), Ibarcis, and Labaigt (and by its tributary the Audore). The tributaries of the Joos: the Arriou de Sulu and the Bouhatéko erreka (with the Dragon) also flow through the commune.

Localities and hamlets

*Aïtzaguer *Andillon *Arhanchet *Aripe *Atchouètos *Badet *Balen *Baliros *Villa Barétous *Bénébig *Bernasqué *Bigué *Bile *Bouenou *Bourette *Brincou *Fontaine Bugalaran *Bois de Bugangue *Borde Estanguet *Granges Cachau *Calangué *Camou *Capdeville *Carquet *Carrère *Casabonne *Casalet *Casemayou *Castera *Chandelle *Chicane *Chinaberry *Chourrout *Coig *Coig de Lamothe *Couéchot *Coustarou *Crapuchette *Escary *Escoubès *Escribasse *Estrate *Galard *Garay *La Gloriette *Gouloume *Gourroure *Guirail *Hondeville *Laborde *Lac de Bas *Lacazette *Lacouère *Lagarde *Lahitte *Lamothe (2 localities) *Lanne de Haut *Lanneretonne *Larrande *Lartigau *Laserre *Laude Bousquet *Grange Lerdou *Lesponne *Lhande *Loustalot *Loustaucaus *Grange de Lurbet *Mendioudou *Ménin *Mesplou *Miapira *Miramon *Mirande *Moncole *Mounolou *Les Murs *Olivé de Haut *Olivé de Baig *Oscamou *Grange d'Osse *Ounces *Oyhenard *Pastou *Les Pernes *Peyré *Grange de Pradet *Prat *Bois de Rachet *Pont de Rachou *Ripaète *Satzoury *Serres *Serreuille *Sottou *Soulou *Talou *Talou Andichou *Talou Piarroch *Tembla de la Loupère *Tos de Haut *Trébucq *Les Trois Arbres Géoportail

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 béarnais is ''Aràmits'' (according to classical norm of

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts ...

). For Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, the origin of the name is from the

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 co ...

''aran'' ("valley") and ''-itz'' (a locative and collective suffix) giving "place of valleys" or "confluence". It would also indicate that the inhabitants were once nicknamed ''grenouilles'' (frogs) - a name for the inhabitants of wetlands). The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources: *

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 *Grosclaude: ''Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn'', 2006 Michel Grosclaude, ''Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn'', Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages, *Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750Cassini Map 1750 – Aramits
/ref> Origins: *Ossau: Titles of the

Ossau Valley The Ossau Valley (French: ''Vallée d'Ossau''; Gascon: ''Aussau'' / ''la vath d'Aussau'') is a valley of the French Pyrénées, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. Administration 18 communes belong to the Valley: Arudy, Aste-Béo ...

*Luntz: *Insinuations: Insinuations of the Diocese of OloronManuscripts from the 17th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Aspe: Titles of the Aspe Valley *Census: Census of BéarnManuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Cour Majour: Regulations of the Cour MajourCour Majour of Béarn, register manuscripts from the 15th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Military: Military Inspection of BéarnManuscript from 1376 in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

History

Paul Raymond on page 7 of his 1863 dictionary that Aramits is the former capital of the Barétous valley and that there were two

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 (surnam ...

s, vassals of the

Viscounts of Béarn The viscounts of Béarn (Basque: ''Bearno'', Gascon: ''Bearn'' or ''Biarn'') were the rulers of the viscounty of Béarn, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque province ...

: The ''Abadie-Susan'' and ''Abadie-Jusan''. He further noted that in 1385 there were 52

fires Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are p ...

at Aramits and it depended on the bailiwick of Oloron. Shortly before (in 1375), the priest of Aramits played the role of mediator in conflicts between the Navarrese and the Bearnese which gave birth to the treaty called the ''Junta de Roncal'', leading to the yearly tribute of the three cows paid by Aramits to

Isaba Isaba ( eu, Izaba) is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_m ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). In 1790, the Canton of Aramits also included

Esquiule Esquiule (; eu, Eskiula)ESKIULA

Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone designation of Ossau-iraty.

Culture and Heritage

Religious heritage

The Parish church of Saint-Vincent (17th century) is registered as an historical monument. It was a former

with the remains of a portal from the 17th century but the old church was demolished in 1880. The new Romanesque-Byzantine style church was built from 1884 to 1886.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée

Environmental heritage

*The Sommet de Souek is 623 metres high *The Soum d'Unars is 604 metres *The Barrat de Sottou is 556 metres.

Facilities

Education

The commune has a primary school.

Sports and sports facilities

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 its m ...

: the ''Entente Aramits'' plays in

Fédérale 2 Fédérale 2 is a rugby union club championship division in France. It is the sixth division of rugby above Fédérale 3. Teams can earn promotion to Fédérale 1, and subsequently, to the National 2 and Nationale leagues, and on to the profes ...

. Pierre Capdevielle played there from 1985 to 1994.

Notable people linked to the commune

Henri d'Aramitz Henri, Seigneur d'Aramitz ("Lord of Aramits"; c. 1620–1655 or 1674) was a Gascon ''abbé'', and black musketeer of the Maison du Roi in 17th century France. In addition, he was the nephew of the Comte de Troisville, captain of the Musketeers ...

lived in the commune. He was the son of Charles Aramitz and a sergeant in the company of musketeers who was the inspiration for

Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), ''Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...

in the novels ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'', ''

Twenty Years After ''Twenty Years After'' (french: Vingt ans après) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized from January to August 1845. A book of '' The d'Artagnan Romances'', it is a sequel to ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) and precedes the 1847–1850 n ...

'' and ''

The Vicomte de Bragelonne ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later'' (french: link=no, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard ) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of '' The d'Artagnan Romances'', following ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''Tw ...

'' by Alexandre Dumas.