Bazas (; oc-gsc, Vasats) 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 Gironde 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 area ...

Geography

Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the

Beuve Saint Beuve (or Bove or Bova) and her brother Balderic (or Baudry) lived in the 7th century in France. According to Christian Settipani, their father was probably Sigobert the Lame, King of Cologne, rather than Sigebert I of Austrasia, as indicate ...

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 prefect ...

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 situa ...

History

As ''Cossio'', it was capital of the ancient tribe of the ''Vasates'', and under the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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 Novemp ...

, 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 Ancient Rome, Romans as the ''Vasatensis pagus'' after the ancient occupants, the Vasates. In the 2nd century it was part of the Novempopulania, one ...

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 Aire may refer to: Music * ''Aire'' (Yuri album), 1987 * ''Aire'' (Pablo Ruiz album), 1997 *''Aire (Versión Día)'', an album by Jesse & Joy Places *Aire-sur-la-Lys, a town in the Pas-de-Calais département in France *Aire-la-Ville, a municip ...

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 ...

, Bayonne,

Oloron 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

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 lo ...

. According to Gregory of Tours, 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 betw ...

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, brought from Palestine a relic of St. John the Baptist at the time of that saint's death. Pope Urban II (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-d ...

.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 The Château de Roquetaillade () is a castle in Mazères (near Bordeaux), in the French ''département'' of Gironde. History Charlemagne, on his way to the Pyrenees with Roland, built the first fortification there. Of this old castle, nothing re ...

Château de Villandraut The Château de Villandraut is a ruined castle in the '' commune'' of Villandraut in the Gironde ''département'' of France. It was constructed between 1305 and 1312 by Bertrand de Goth after he was elected to be Pope Clement V. History Bertran ...

Château de Fargues A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

Château de Cazeneuve The Château de Cazeneuve is a castle, converted into a comfortable ''château'', in the '' commune'' of Préchac in the Gironde ''département'' of France. The castle was built along the gorges of the River Ciron and the stream of Honburens. H ...

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. ...

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

Bazadais Bazas (; oc-gsc, Vasats) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. Geography Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the Beuve valley 60 km/37 mi southeast of Bordeaux and 40 km/25 mi southwest of ...

cattle.

Transport

Bazas is by-passed by the ' (N524). The N524 forms part of the

Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit The ''Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit'' is a water and road route that has been created in order to allow the transport of the outsize structural sections of the Airbus A380, Airbus A380 airliner from their point of manufacture to Toulouse for final ...