Aast (, ) 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 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 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 an ...

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 area ...

. The inhabitants are known as ''Aastais''.

Geography

Aast, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Drinking Trough

Location

The village is situated on the plateau of Ger and is composed of a dozen scattered houses. Aast is 20 km east of Pau and 20 km north of

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Châ ...

. Access to the commune is by road D70 then D311 north-east from Gardères, road D64 north-west from Ger, and road D311 when coming south from Ponson-Dessus. Other country roads can also be used to access the commune.Google Maps
/ref>

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, ...

of the Adour, Aast is traversed by the ''Carbouère'' stream, a tributary of the ''Louet'' river.

Localities and hamlets

* Aast * Bayet * Bidou * Cadet * France * Gachau * Hourcade * Lasbordes * Lasserre * Lassus * Lescloupe * Mouly * Pouquet * Rémy * Toulou Géoportail
, IGN, consulted on 14 October 2011

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

''Aast'' is the first French commune in alphabetical order. Previously, ''Aas'', another commune in the Lower Pyrenees, came first until 1861, when it merged with the commune of Assouste to form the new commune of Eaux-Bonnes. The commune's Béarnais name is also ''Aast''. According to Dauzat and Rostaing ''Aast'' comes 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 ...

''ast'' ("rock"). This seems unlikely given the physical setting. Michel Grosclaude Michel Grosclaude, Toponymical Dictionary of communes, Béarn, ed. Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006 , page 201 suggests that the name of the town derives from an anthroponym composed of ''Aner'' + ''Aster''. Brigitte Jobbé-Duval Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, Dictionary of place names - Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2009, ed. Archives and Culture recalls that in 1429, ''Aast'' appeared as ''Hast'', which means ''lance'', and therefore advanced the theory that ''Aast'' could refer to a battle that occurred there. The following table details the origins of the commune name. 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 *Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750Cassini Map 1750 – Aast
Origins: *Census: Census of MontanerManuscript from 1429 in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Reformation: Reformation of BéarnManuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

History

There was a Lay Abbey in Aast which was abolished in 1791. The Lordship of Aast was owned by the Day family from 1674 until the

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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In 1678, Jérome de Day, adviser to the king, bought the abbey and

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

with rights of patronage: he was to provide a priest and entitled to receive a portion of the tithe, to sit in the choir, to be first to receive the blessed bread, and to be buried in the church.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Aast Aast, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, War Memorial

;Mayors from 1942

Population

Aast, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Wayside Cross

Culture and Heritage

Civil heritage

The town has a number of old farmhouses: * The Fray Farmhouse (17th century) *A Farmhouse at Bayet (19th century) *Houses and Farms (18th and 19th century)

Religious Heritage

The Church of Saint Martin (1854) dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours was built under

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

during the administration of Mayor Bartholomew Lassus. Recently renovated by the artist Villarubias, there are many objects in the church registered as historical objects: *A Processional Lantern (18th century) *A

Thurible A thurible (via Old French from Medieval Latin ) is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in Christian churches including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian Church of th ...

(17th century) *A Pail for holy water (19th century) *A Painting: Christ on the cross with the Virgin, Saint Madeleine and Saint Martin (18th century) *2 Paintings: Saint Martin Bishop, and the Charity of St. Martin (19th century) *Statue: Saint Joseph (19th century) *Altar Pulpit (19th century) *A Pulpit (18th century) *2 Altars and

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.), ...

s (19th century) *The Main Altar (19th century) *5 stained glass windows by Henri Gesta (1927) *The Furniture in the ChurchMinistry of Culture, Palissy