Espelette (; ; oc, Espeleta) 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 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 south-western

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 in the traditional

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 ...

province of

Labourd Labourd ( eu, Lapurdi; la, Lapurdum; Gascon: ''Labord'') is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial c ...

Sights

The town is attractive, with traditional Labourd houses and a castle. The protected sixteenth-century church, Saint-Etienne, has a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

altarpiece, and its graveyard has many traditional Basque

discoidal tombstones Hilarri (from Basque ''hil'' 'dead' and ''harri'' 'stone') is the name given to disk-shaped funerary steles that are typical of the Basque Country. These funerary steles present a disc-shaped head facing the rising sun on a trapezoidal stand. ...

Notable people

Agnès Souret Jeanne Germaine Berthe Agnès Souret (21 January 1902 – 30 September 1928) was a French actress and dancer who was the winner of the inaugural Miss France competition in 1920. Biography Jeanne Germaine Berthe Agnès Souret was a French-Basq ...

, the first woman ever chosen as

Miss France Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it ...

, in 1920, is buried in Espelette. She died in Argentina, aged 26, in 1928, and her body was repatriated to Espelette by her mother, who sold most of her possessions to provide a resting place for her daughter. * Father

Armand David Father Armand David (7 September 1826, Espelette – 10 November 1900, Paris) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist. Several species, such as Père David's deer, are named after him — be ...

(1826–1900), a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist, was born in Espelette.

Red peppers

Espelette is known for its dried red peppers, used whole or ground to a hot powder, used in the production of Bayonne ham. The peppers are designated as

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

and are hung to dry outside many of the houses and shops in the village during the summer. The peppers are sold in the town's Wednesday covered market and are honoured in a festival on the last Sunday in October.

References

External links

*
Ezpeleta in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa — Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
*
Piment d'Espelette
site dedicated to the pepper Image:France-Espelette-Piments sur façade-2005-08-05.jpg, Traditional Espelette house with peppers drying on the walls Image:France-AOC Piment d'Espelette-2005-08-05.jpg, ''Piments d'Espelette'', Espelette peppers Image:Espelette WWF.jpg, Plaque of WWF in front of Father

's birth house, inaugurated by Cardinal

Roger Etchegaray Roger Marie Élie Etchegaray (; 25 September 1922 – 4 September 2019) was a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. Etchegaray served as the Archbishop of Marseille from 1970 to 1985 before entering the Roman Curia, where he served as Presid ...

in Espelette. Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Labourd Pyrénées-Atlantiques communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{PyrénéesAtlantiques-geo-stub

Sights

Notable people

Red peppers

See also

References

External links