Bassussarry (; eu, Basusarri) is 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 of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Basusartars''.

Geography

Bassussary is located in the former 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 ...

and within 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 ...

some 5 km south-east of

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. ...

and 4 km south by south-west of Bayonne. Access to the commune is by the D932 road from

Anglet Anglet (; , eu, Angelu )ANGELU

Ustaritz. The town is in the west of the commune and can be accessed by the D254 road which branches from the D932 on the northern border of the commune and continues through the town west to join the D810 south-west of Biarritz Airport. The D3 comes 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 ...

Exit (Bayonne-Sud) to the town then south forming the western border of the commune and continuing to Arcangues. South-east of the town is another urban area of Betbeder. Much of the commune is urbanised with some areas of forest and meadows. The eastern part next to the D932 contains an industrial estate. Two bus services pass through and have stops in the commune operated by ''Transports 64'': *Service 860 Bayonne to Cambo-les-Bains *Service 880 Bayonne to Arbonne The commune lies in the drainage basin of the

Adour The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre (Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. i ...

with the Nive river forming the whole eastern border of the commune as it flows north to join the Adour. The ''Ruisseau d'Urdains'' flows from a small lake just south of the commune northwards, forming the north-eastern border of the commune, before joining the Nive in the north-eastern corner. The ''Ruisseau de Harrieta'' flows from the south-west of the commune to the north-east joining the ''Ruisseau d'Urbaine'' near the D932. The ''Ruisseau de Pétaboure'' rises in the north-west of the commune and forms the northern border as it flows east to join the ''Ruisseau de Harrieta'' in the commune.

Places and Hamlets

* Axerimendi * Behikenea * Betbeder * Borda Nasa * Bordaberria * Castanche * Dorriotz * Harrieta * Juanita * Juantipi * Larrebure * Lataste * Luberri * Martinaskoenea * Moussans * Oihenart * Peillé * Penen * Portukoborda * Urdains (château) * la Vigne * Xemeto

Toponymy

The commune name in Basque is ''Basusarri''.Euskaltzaindia - Academy of the Basque language
Jean-Baptiste Orpustan proposed a structure of ''baso'' meaning "forest" and ''sarri'' meaning "dense" or "tight" giving the overall meaning of "dense forest".Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
''New Basque Toponymy''
Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006, , p. 30-31 The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources: * 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, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 *Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
'' New Basque Toponymy''
ref name="Orpustan"/> *Ldh/EHESS/Cassini: *Lhande:

Pierre Lhande Pierre Lhande Heguy ( eu, Pierre Allande Hegi) was a French writer. He was born in Bayonne, France on 9 July 1877 and died 17 April 1957 in Tardets, Soule; for unknown reasons he was given his grandfather's surname, Lhande, as opposed to his fa ...

, ''Basque-French Dictionary'', 1926 *Register: Church Register of BayonneManuscripts from the 18th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Origins: *Bayonne: Cartulary of

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

Diocese of Bayonne The Diocese of Bayonne, Lescar, and Oloron, commonly Diocese of Bayonne, (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baionensis, Lascurrensis et Oloronensis''; French language, French: ''Diocèse de Bayonne, Lescar et Oloron''; Basque language, Basque: ''Baionako, Leskar ...

Manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Navarre: Titles of the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

Titles of the Kingdom of Navarre in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Bassussarry appears as ''Baßußarry'' on the 1750

Cassini Map The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Ca ...

and does not appear at all on the 1790 version.

History

During the Peninsular War on 10 December 1813 Bassussarry was the scene of a battle between General Suchet and the Spanish-English.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

Intercommunality

Bassussarry is one of nine inter-communal structures: *the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque; *the SIVOM of Arbonne-Arcangues-Bassussarry; *the energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques; *the inter-communal association for the management of the Txakurrak centre; *the inter-communal association to support Basque culture; *the joint association for the management of drinking water Ura; *the joint association for collective and non-collective sanitation Ura *the joint association of maritime Nive; *the joint association of the drainage basin of the Nive. Bassussarry is the seat of the SIVOM Arbonne-Arcangues-Bassussarry The commune is part of the Bayonne-San Sebastián Eurocity.

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 3,126 inhabitants. Bassussarry war memorial in the church

Education

The commune has a public primary school.

Economy

The commune is in 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

Bassussarry interieur de l'église avec balcon

Religious heritage

The Parish Church of Saint-Barthélemy (19th century) is registered as an historical monument.

Language

According to the ''Map of the Seven Basque Provinces'' by

Louis Lucien Bonaparte Louis Lucien Bonaparte (4 January 1813 – 3 November 1891) was a French philologist. The third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte, he spent much of his life outside France for political reasons. After a brief politica ...

the Basque spoken in Bassussarry is Northern

Upper Navarrese dialect Upper Navarrese (sometimes called High Navarrese) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa or ''Nafarroa Garaia'') community of Spain, as established by linguist Louis Lucien Bonaparte in his famous 1869 map. He ...

Notable people linked to the commune

* Dominique Joseph Garat, born in 1749 at Bayonne and died in 1833 at Bassussarry, was a lawyer, journalist, and French philosopher. He was elected to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 1803. * Christophe-Louis Légasse, born in 1859 at Bassussarry and died in 1931 at Périgueux, was a French Catholic Prelate, successively

Apostolic prefect An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

in Saint Pierre and Miquelon from 1899 to 1915, Bishop of Oran from 1915 to 1920, and Bishop of Périgueux from 1920 to 1931. * Christophe Hondelatte, journalist born in 1962 at

, grew up in Bassussarry.Interview with Christophe Hondelatte by the ''Journal du Pays basque'' on 24 January 2009
''"I, who grew up in Bassussaury..."''

References

External links

{{authority control Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques