Agnos (Pyr-Atl, Fr) Porte d'accès et aperçu du château.JPG

Agnos (; oc, Anhòs) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Agnos is part of the urban area (''unité urbaine'') of Oloron-Sainte-Marie.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Agnosiens'' or ''Agnosiennes''

Geography

Agnos is located just 2 km south of Oloron-Sainte-Marie and some 25 km southwest of Pau. It can be accessed on the D155 road from Bidos in the northeast coming southwest to the village then continuing southeast to Gurmençon. The D555 road also passes through the commune from the north and joins the D155 northeast of the village. The commune is mixed farmland and forests with the forests scattered throughout the commune.

The river Mielle, a tributary of the Gave d'Oloron (Adour basin), flows through the commune.

Places and hamlets

* La Baig
* Candalot
* Dufau
* Fontaine Anglade
* Laborde-Boy
* Lasserre
* Ledorré
* Logecoop
* Mirande
* Le Plouts
* Sayette
* Sentin

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

The commune name in Bearnese dialect, béarnais is ''Anhos''. Michel Grosclaude suggested that ''Agnos'' came from a Latin man's name ''Annius'' with an Aqitaine suffix ''-ossum'' the whole meaning "domain of Annius".

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Sources:
*Paul Raymond (archivist), Raymond:''
''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 (archivist), 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: French cartography#Cassini maps, Cassini Map from 1750

Origins:
*Fors de BéarnManuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
*Census: Census of Béarn
*Reformation: Reformation of BéarnManuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

History

Paul Raymond (archivist), Paul Raymond noted on page 3 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 Agnos had seventeen Feu fiscal, fires and depended on the bailiwick of Oloron.

The commune was merged with Gurmençon on 1 February 1973 to form the commune called ''Val-du-Gave d'Aspe''. It was restored to its previous status on 1 January 1983.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Agnos

Inter-communality

The town is part of five inter-communal organisations:
*the Community of communes of Haut Béarn
*the SIVU to limit floods in Agnos
*the AEP Union for Agnos-Gurmençon
*the Inter-communal Union for Sanitisation for the Aspe gateway
*the energy union for Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Population

Economy

The activity of the commune is mainly agricultural (farming, polyculture). The town is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) of ossau-iraty.

Culture and heritage

Religious Heritage

The Church has a Trinitarian steeple (the presence of a Bell-gable or ''campenard''). It contains many items which are registered as historical objects (although some were destroyed by fire in 1968):
*An Altar (destroyed) (18th century)
*6 Candlesticks (destroyed) (18th century)
*A Cross (destroyed) (18th century)
*A Church tabernacle, Tabernacle (destroyed) (18th century)
*A Chalice (18th century)
*A Ciborium (container), Ciborium (18th century)
*A Retable (destroyed) (18th century)

Environmental heritage

The Forests of Bugangue and Labaigt are inter-association woods managed by the National Office of Forests (ONF) which provide valuable shelter for preserving local flora and fauna. Many species are protected. An arboretum is a result of collaboration with the ONF.

The ''Mielle'', a small stream that rises in Agnos, is listed in the Natura 2000 program for three rare species: white-clawed crayfish, European pond turtles, and the rare European mink which does not exist anywhere in France except in the south-west.

The Pyrenees are rich in scenery and the village of Agnos is the starting point of one of the most attractive routes for cycling across the foothills: From Agnos to Mail Arrouil and back (four hours of cycling or seven hours of walking) in a variety of environments, moors, rocks, meadows with views of the Pyrenees. This route, like many others, is managed by the ''local hiking plan'' of the ''Community of communes of Piémont Oloronais'' (CCPO).

Facilities

;Associations
The model aircraft club welcomes its members in the Sayette neighborhood.

;Education
The town has a primary school.

;Multi-Media Library
The Multi-media library project of the ''CCPO'' identified the municipal library of Agnos as a ''relay point''.

;Sports and sports equipment
The basketball club merged with that of Asasp in 2006 to form BCHB (Basketball Club of Haut-Bearn).

Notable People linked to the commune

*Catherine Capdevielle, born in 1938 in Agnos, is an athlete specialising in ordeal sprinting.

See also

*Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

External links

Agnos Town Hall website

Agnos official website

Community of communes of Piémont oloronais website

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Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques