Ahetze () is a village and a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques

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 the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. The commune is part of the urban area of

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 ...

, and of the traditional Basque 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 ...

.AHETZE
Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia

Geography

Location

The commune is located some 13 km southwest of Bayonne and 30 km northeast of Donostia-San-Sebastion and only 4 km from the Atlantic beaches of

Bidart Bidart (; eu, Bidarte)BIDARTE

Guéthary Guéthary (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It is located in the traditional Basque province of Labourd, the town traditionally standing on the northernmost coastal linguistic boundary of the Bas ...

Access

Ahetze village is at the intersection of departmental roads D655 from

Arbonne Arbonne (; eu, Arbona) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arbonars'' Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, ''Dictionary of place names - ...

Bidart Bidart (; eu, Bidarte)BIDARTE

Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle (, literally ''Saint-Pée on Nivelle''; eu, Senpere)SENPERE

Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The commune can be accessed from Exit 4 (

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

La Négresse) and Exit 3 ( Saint-Jean-de-Luz nord) from the

A63 autoroute The A63 autoroute is a motorway in southwest France, connecting Bordeaux (from Junction 15 of the A630 autoroute, Rocade) to the border with Spain and Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country via the Autopista AP-8. The motorway, rathe ...

. The Biarritz–Anglet–Bayonne Airport is 15-minute drive from the village.

Hydrography

The river Zirikolatzeko erreka, a tributary of the Uhabia, flows through the commune, as well as several of its tributaries, including the Amisolako, Uroneko, and Besaingo. Paul Raymond also stated in his ''Topographical dictionary of Bearn-Basque Country'' in 1863 that a tributary of the Alborga: the ''Haïstéchéhé'' flows through Ahetze after rising in

Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle (, literally ''Saint-Pée on Nivelle''; eu, Senpere)SENPERE

* Arrakotenea * Belhardiko Errota * Biperenborda * Borda * Dorrea * Etxebiaga * Haroztegia * Harrieta * Ithurbidea * Ithurbidenborda * Laharraga * Larramendia * Larreluzea * Larretxeberria * Larrunta or Larruntaldea * Martikotenea * Mulienea * Olhagaina * Ostaleriaborda * Solorzano * Uhartea * Xaharrenea * Ximikoenea * Xirrikenea Géoportail

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

Toponymy

The commune name in Basque is also ''Ahetze''. Jean-Baptiste Orpustan suggested that ''Ahetze'' comes from ''aiz'' meaning "stone" and by extension "high rock" (''see also: Ahaitz''). The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources: * Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, ''New Basque Toponymy'' * Raymond: ''Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees'', 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011) * Lhande: Pierre Lhande, ''Basque-French Dictionary'' 1926 Origins: * Bayonne: Cartulary of

or ''Livre d'Or'' (Book of Gold)Manuscript from the 14th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques * Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of

Chapter of Bayonne in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques According to Eugène Goyheneche:Eugène Goyheneche, ''Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Lower Navarre'', Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales et de diffusion, Pau, 1979, BnF FRBNF34647711 "two houses (…) had medieval names of ''Akarreta'' and ''Haranbillaga''".

History

In the Middle Ages the Compostela pilgrims who chose the passage along the Atlantic coast passed near Ahetze, Ibarron and the hospital (''Ospitale Zaharra'') in

Sare Sare may refer to: People * Bakary Saré (born 1990), Burkinabé football player * Clyde W. Sare (1936–2015), American politician and businessman * Haig Sare (born 1982), Australian rugby union player * Hamit Şare (born 1982), Turkish alpine sk ...

. Others preferred to fork through part of Ahetze to reach the chapel Saint-Jacques of Serres and also visit

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarrag ...

by passing by

Olhette Urrugne (; eu, Urruña)URRUÑA
List of Successive Mayors of Ahetze

Inter-Communality

Ahetze is a member of 8 Intercommunal organisations: * the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque * the union of Ouhabia * the intercommunal association of secondary schools of Saint-Jean-de-Luz * the intercommunal association ''Nive-Nivelle'' * the mixed association of ''Bizi Garbia'' * the association to support Basque culture * the joint association for drinking water from the Ura * the joint sanitation association of the Ura The commune is a member of the ''Basque Eurocity Bayonne - San Sebastian''.

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aheztars'' in French.

Economy

The flea market takes place every third Sunday of the month and regularly attracts lovers of antiques from the Paris region, to the Spanish communes all around and contributes to the economic revitalization of the village which has mainly agricultural activity. The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of

Ossau-iraty Ossau-Iraty is an Occitan-Basque cheese made from sheep milk. Origin Ossau-Iraty or Esquirrou is produced in south-western France, in the Northern Basque Country and in Béarn. Its name reflects its geographical location, the Ossau Valley in Bé ...

Culture and heritage

Languages

The ''Map of the Seven Basque Provinces'' established by Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte in 1863 indicated that the Basque dialect spoken in Ahetze was

Labourdin Navarro-Labourdin or Navarro-Lapurdian ( eu, nafar-lapurtera) is a Basque dialect spoken in the Lower Navarre and Labourd (Lapurdi) former provinces of the French Basque Country (in the Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''). It consists of ...

Festivals

Established in 1971, the Committee of Festivals of Ahetze (''Ahetzeko Mozkor Banda'') organises the following events: wheat threshing, dance evenings, a gala of Basque rural sports, ''loto'', and employers' festivals that take place between 25 October and 11 November.

Civil heritage

* The Ostalapia farm, now a restaurant, is a former way station on the road to Saint Jacques de Compostela and long before was a haven for the Guethariars and

Bidart Bidart (; eu, Bidarte)BIDARTE

Baserri dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which have been extended over time. New construction follows the Labourdin style. File:Ahetze Linteau 1655.JPG, Lintel dating from 1655 File:Ahetze Maison Réhaussée.JPG, House extension File:Ahetze Harrieta.JPG, Modern Baserri (late 20th century) File:Ahetze Maison basque.JPG, Basque House under a storm File:Ahetze Stèle.JPG, Hilarri

Religious heritage

The

Church of Saint Martin Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

(16th century) is registered as an historical monument. The church contains a number of items that are registered as historical objects: ** A Retable and 7 Paintings (1700) ** A Processional Cross (15th century). This cross, whose arms are garnished with bells, was used in witchcraft trials in the year 1609 to the outrage of Councilor Lancre who saw it as an evil object. The carvings on the Cross represent the faces of Christ, the Virgin, Saint John, a pelican, and two women's heads. On the back of the cross there is the representation of a bishop, undoubtedly Saint Martin. ** A Statue: Virgin of the Assumption (18th century) ** A Statue: Saint Jacques dressed as a pilgrim (18th century) Eugène Goyheneche noted that the church quite exceptionally possessed a register of Catholics in Basque. ;The Church Picture Gallery File:Ahetze 2005-01-01.jpg, Church of Saint-Martin File:Ahetze Rue.JPG, The bell tower seen from the village File:Ahetze Statue.JPG, Entrance to the Church File:Ahetze Aurore.jpg, The Church File:Ahetze Cloches.JPG, Close up of the Bells in the church File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl, Fr) Choeur de l'église.JPG, The choir of the church File:AHETZE - Eglise Saint-Martin 02.jpg, Interior of the church File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl, Fr) Autel.JPG, Altar with two pelerins of St. James File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) Détail du retable, l'Annonciation.JPG, Altar piece detail: The Annunciation File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) détail du retable, Anne salue Marie.JPG, Altar piece detail: Anna greeting Maria File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) Vitrail Notre Dame du Rosaire, Mater purissima.JPG, Stained glass in the church File:Ahetze (Pyr-Atl., Fr) Vitrail notre Dame du Rosaire, Rosa mystica.JPG, Stained Glass, Lady of the Rosary

Environmental heritage

On the heights of Ahetze all the Basque mountains near the Atlantic are visible: the

Rhune Larrun (modern French: ''La Rhune'', IPA: a'run - 'good pasture', possibly a folk etymology, in French until the 20th century: ''Larhune'' ) is a mountain (905 m) at the western end of the Pyrenees. It is located on the border of France and Spa ...

, the Mondarrain, the Artzamendi, and the Ursuia in France as well as the ''Three Crowns'' in Spain. File:Ahetze Mondarrain Artzamendi.jpg, View of the ''Mondarrain'' (750m) and the ''Artzamendi'' (906m) File:Rhune Ahetze.JPG, La Rhune view from Ahetze File:Trois Couronnes Ahetze.jpg, The Three Crowns, ( Spain) File:Ahetze Besaingo.JPG, The Besaingo erreka File:Ahetze Moulin.JPG, Watermill on the Besaingo erreka

Facilities

Sports and sports facilities

Ahetze has two Frontons, one is old and built into the wall of the town hall, a second was completed in 2008 as part of the new development of the town. A Trinquet called ''Pantxoa Sein'' is next to the primary school. A marked ''fitness trail'' runs through the south-east of the village. File:Ahetze Fronton.jpg, The Fronton next to the Town Hall File:Ahetze Trinquet.JPG, Plaque at the entrance to the Trinquet

Education

Ahetze has a primary school and a nursery.

Health

Ahetze has several health services: a general practitioner, a dentist, a nurse, a physiotherapist, and a speech therapist.

Notable People linked to the commune

* , born on 11 November 1916 in Ahetze and died on 22 July 1981 in the same commune, was a Bertsolari (singer of bertso) renowned in French Basque Country. * , born in California and died in 1982, was a North American

Anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

who, during the 1960s, conducted the first research that highlighted specific Basque haematology with the entire population of the villages of Macaye and Ahetze.The results of these studies were published in 1967 (''The Basques Natural History'', New York, J. Dausset, L. Legrand, M. H. Levine M. H., J. C. Quilice, M. Colombani, J. Ruffié), 1972 (''Genetic Structure and Distribution of HL-A Antigens in a Basque village, in "Histocompatibility Testing"'', Copenhague, J. Ruffie, M. H. Levine, M. Blanc, P. Richard), 1972 (''A New lmmunoglobulin haplotype Gm (-1, -17, 21) in a Kurdish isolate and in a French Basque village'', M. H. Levine, J. Ruffie, H. Darrasse) and in 1973 (''Basque Isolation: I A Hemaypological Survey of Basque Villages'') These studies put in evidence in relation to the surrounding population the high frequency of blood group O and Rh negative and the particularities of distribution of Gm antigens and HL-A.

Notes

References

External links

*
25 photos of Ahetze

{{authority control Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Geography

Location

Access

Hydrography

Toponymy

History

Inter-Communality

Population

Economy

Culture and heritage

Languages

Festivals

Civil heritage

Religious heritage

Environmental heritage

Facilities

Sports and sports facilities

Education

Health

Notable People linked to the commune

See also

Notes

References

External links