Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) 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 Atlanti ...
department, and
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
of
New 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 ...
, southwestern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
[INSEE commune file]
/ref>
It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to 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 re ...
. The town also encompasses the small village of Sainte-Suzanne, an independent commune until 1973;[ residents of the town are called either ''Orthéziens'' or ''Sainte-Suzannais''.
]
Geography
Orthez straddles the westward-flowing Gave de Pau
The Gave de Pau () is a river of south-western France. It takes its name from the city of Pau, through which it flows. The river is long ( including the Gaves réunis), and its source is at the Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees mountains. The ...
, with most of the town proper having developed on the right bank. Several residential developments and an industrial park are located on the left bank, in addition to Sainte-Suzanne, an associated village entity within the town. A partially artificial lake called 'Lac de l'y grec' (usually just spelled 'Lac de l'Y' i.e. 'Y Lake') () has a pleasant, scenic walking trail. Orthez station
The gare d'Orthez is a railway station in Orthez, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The station is located on the Toulouse - Bayonne railway line. The station is served by TGV (high speed trains), Intercités de Nuit (night trains), Intercités (long d ...
has rail connections to Tarbes, Pau, Bordeaux and Bayonne.
History
During the 12th century, Orthez was the capital of Béarn
The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
, after Morlaàs
Morlaàs (; Gascon Morlans) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.
It is the seat of a canton.
After the Roman city of Benearnum (today's Lescar) was razed by the Vikings in 841, Morlaàs became the ...
and before Pau, which is still the prefectural administrative capital. At the end of the 12th century, Orthez passed from the possession of the viscounts of 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 ...
to that of the viscounts of Bearn, whose chief place of residence it became in the 13th century. Froissart
Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: '' Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthuria ...
records the splendour of the court of Orthez under Gaston Phoebus
Gaston Fébus (also spelt Phoebus) (30 April 1331 – 1391) was the eleventh count of Foix (as Gaston III) and twenty-fourth viscount of Béarn (as Gaston X) from 1343 until his death.
Early life
Gaston was born either in Orthez or Foix, the e ...
in the latter half of the 14th century.
Jeanne d'Albret
Jeanne d'Albret ( Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572.
Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margar ...
founded a Calvinist university in the town and Theodore Beza
Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformatio ...
taught there for some time. An envoy sent in 1569 by Charles IX to revive the Catholic faith had to stand a siege in the battle of Orthez
The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered Fr ...
; the city was eventually taken by assault by the Protestant/Huguenot captain, Gabriel, count of Montgomery. In 1684 Nicholas Foucault, intendant under Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, was more successful, as the inhabitants, ostensibly at least, renounced Protestantism. It is nevertheless still a strong tradition in the town.
Another battle of Orthez
The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered Fr ...
occurred during the Napoleonic Wars on February 27, 1814, in which the British Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
defeated Marshal Soult
Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Fren ...
on the hills to the north of Orthez. Gaston Planté
Gaston Planté (22 April 1834 – 21 May 1889) was a French physicist who invented the lead–acid battery in 1859. This type battery was developed as the first rechargeable electric battery marketed for commercial use and it is widely used in aut ...
, the French physicist, was born here on the 22 April 1834; his major claim to fame was the invention in 1859 of the lead-acid battery, the common car battery.
Population
Sights
The Gave de Pau is crossed in Orthez by a 14th-century bridge, which has four arches and is surmounted at its centre by a tower. Several old houses, and a church of the 12th, 14th and 15th centuries are of some interest. The most notable building is the Tour Moncade (), a pentagonal tower of the 13th century, once the keep of a castle 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 provinc ...
, and now used as a meteorological observatory. A building of the 17th century is all that remains of the old Calvinist university (see below). The town hall is a modern building containing the library.
Economy
The spinning and weaving of hemp and flax, especially of the fabric called ''toile de Béarn'', flour-milling, the manufacture of paper and of leather, and the preparation of hams known as ''jambons de Bayonne'' and other delicacies, are among its industries. There are quarries of stone and marble in the area, and the town has a thriving trade in leather, hams, and lime.
Administration
Orthez has a judicial court but not an appeals court. It was the seat of a subprefecture
A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province.
Albania
There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...
from 1800 until 1926 (the dates of the creation and abolition of the ''arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
'' (district) ''of Orthez'').
Sports
Orthez is known in sport for basketball with Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez
Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN ...
team, which is one of the most successful French basketball clubs. Orthez is the smallest town of the continent to have won a Euro Cup (Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include:
* Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people
* Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager
* Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player
* Vitomir ...
in 1984) in all sports. Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez
Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN ...
moved to Pau in 1991.
Orthez was the site for the start of Stage 16 in the 2007 Tour de France.
The main sports clubs of the city are:
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
:
*US Orthez (playing in Fédérale 1
Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 20 ...
championship)
Soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
:
*Elan Béarnais Orthez
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
:
*US Orthez
* Élan Béarnais Orthez (from 1908 to 1991)
Notable natives and residents
* Gaston III Febus (1331–1391), viscount of Bearn
*Jeanne d'Albret
Jeanne d'Albret ( Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572.
Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margar ...
(1528–1572), Queen of Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
and mother of French King Henry IV
* Pierre-Adolphe Lafargue (1818-1869), newspaper publisher and educator in Marksville, Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, born in Orthez
*Gaston Planté
Gaston Planté (22 April 1834 – 21 May 1889) was a French physicist who invented the lead–acid battery in 1859. This type battery was developed as the first rechargeable electric battery marketed for commercial use and it is widely used in aut ...
(1834–1889), inventor of lead-acid battery in 1859
*Francis Planté
Francis Planté (2 March 1839 – 19 December 1934) was a French pianist famed as one of the first ever recording artists.
Planté was born in Orthez. He studied piano under Antoine Marmontel, his career beginning at the age of seven in Par ...
(1839–1934), French pianist famed as one of the first recording artists.
*Armand Reclus (1843–1927), theorized the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
*Onésime Reclus
Onésime Reclus (22 September 1837 – 30 June 1916) was a French geographer who specialized in the relations between France and its colonies.
In 1880 he coined the term " Francophonie" as a means of classification of peoples of the world, bein ...
(1837-1916), born here, geographer
*Francis Jammes
Francis Jammes (; 2 December 1868, in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées – 1 November 1938, in Hasparren, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) was a French and European poet. He spent most of his life in his native region of Béarn and the Basque Country and his po ...
(1868–1938), poet
*Jean-Louis Curtis
Jean-Louis Curtis (22 May 1917 – 11 November 1995), pseudonym of Albert Laffitte, was a French novelist best known for his second novel '' The Forests of the Night'' (French: ''Les Forêts de la nuit''), which won France's highest literary award ...
(1917–1995), novelist
*Daniel d'Auger de Subercase
Daniel d'Auger de Subercase (February 12, 1661 – November 20, 1732) was a naval officer and the French governor of Newfoundland and later Acadia.
Subercase was baptised a Protestant to Jean Daughter, a rich merchant and bourgeois who had p ...
(1661-1732), soldier
*Alain Ducasse
Alain Ducasse (; born 13 September 1956) is a French-born Monégasque chef. He operates a number of restaurants including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester which holds three stars (the top rating) in the Michelin Guide.
Early life and career
...
(b.1956), chef.
* Joël Suhubiette (b.1962), choral conductor
Twin towns - sister cities
Locale
See also
*Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
The following is a list of the 546 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 202 ...
References
*
External links
Mairie of Orthez
{{Authority control
Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia