Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) 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, ...

, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France.

History

The town was founded by the Romans in the 1st century, then known as ''Illoronensium''. Situated on the Roman way between the important towns of

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and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

and Saragossa, its position was strategic. Today known as Saint-Great, Gratus of Oloron became in 506 the first known archbishop of the Ancient Diocese of Oloron then known as "Iluro". The history of the town during the

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

is little known. In 1080, the viscount

Centule V, Viscount of Béarn Centule V (or ''Centulle''; died 1090), called the Young, was the Viscount of Béarn from 1058 to his death. Centule increased the autonomy of the viscounts of Béarn and distanced them from the dukes of Aquitaine, to whom they owed theoretical vass ...

built the new city of "Oloron" (medieval version of the Roman name Iluro) on the opposite side of the river from the diocese center. Centule V restored the Roman walls and founded the strong city of Oloron that was to be used as a base to retake

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

held by the Moors. The Oloron Cathedral was built at the beginning of the 12th century. The viscountal town of Oloron and the episcopal town of Sainte-Marie were then rivals, but Oloron strove on its textile industry and commerce with neighbouring Spain. Sainte-Marie became economically dependent upon Oloron. The 18th century was the beginning of revival for Sainte-Marie as the end of French Wars of Religion allowed for restorations and new religious constructions in the town : cathedral, seminary, church Saint-Pierre. Moreover, the continued boom of commerce with Spain accelerated the construction of better communication and transportation routes to Oloron and Sainte-Marie. With the French Revolution Oloron lost its diocese to

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 ...

but gained administrative importance by becoming one of the sous-préfectures of the new Republic. In 1858, the regent Impress Eugénie imposed the reunification of the towns of Oloron and Sainte-Marie.

Geography

Location

Situated at the feet of the Pyrénées, 50 km from the Spanish border and 100 km from the Atlantic ocean, Oloron-Sainte-Marie is at the confluence of two '' gaves'' (mountain rivers), the Gave d'Aspe and the Gave d'Ossau that merge to form the gave d'Oloron. Capital of the Haut-

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

, Oloron-Sainte-Marie is also at the point of origin of the three Haut-Béarn valleys : the Aspe Valley, the

Ossau Valley The Ossau Valley (French: ''Vallée d'Ossau''; Gascon: ''Aussau'' / ''la vath d'Aussau'') is a valley of the France, French Pyrénées, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''departments of France, département''. Administration 18 communes of France, ...

and the Barétous Valley. Neighboring communes: Esquiule,

Moumour Moumour ( oc, Momor; eu, Mumur) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. The French opera singer Marc Bonnehée was born there in 1828. Bibliothèque nationale de FranceNotice d'autorité personne: Bonneh ...

Ledeuix Ledeuix ( or ; also Lédeuix; oc, Laduish) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrén ...

Estos Estos is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Franc ...

Cardesse Cardesse (; oc, Cardessa) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ...

Monein Monein (; oc, Monenh) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. Geography Neighbouring Communes *North: Lahourcade and Pardies *West: Lucq-de-Béarn and Cardesse *South: Estialescq and Lasseube *East: Auberti ...

, Goès, Précilhon,

Escout Escout is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques D ...

Herrère Herrère (; oc, Herrèra) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.Ogeu-les-Bains Ogeu-les-Bains (; oc, Augeu) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. Ogeu-les-Bains station has rail connections to Pau, Oloron-Sainte-Marie and Bedous. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques d ...

Buziet Buziet (; oc, Busiet) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques depa ...

Arudy Arudy (; Gascon: Arudi) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arudyens'' or ''Arudyennes''. The commune has been awarded o ...

Escot Escot may refer to: * Escot, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France * Escot, Talaton, England People with the surname * Hagre l'Escot (fl. 1360s), Scottish mercenary captain * Pozzi Escot (born 1933), Peruvian musician See also * Ascot (disambiguation) ...

, Asasp-Arros, Lurbe-Saint-Christau, Eysus, Gurmençon,

Bidos Bidos (; oc, Bidòs) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées- ...

Agnos 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 k ...

Ance Ance may refer to: * Ance (given name), a feminine given name * Ance, Latvia * Ance, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Ance (; Gascon: ''Ansa'') is a former commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. O ...

and

Féas Féas ( Gascon: ''Hiars'') is a former commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Ance Féas.Lindt & Sprüngli have a chocolate factory in Oloron. : *

Safran Landing Systems Safran Landing Systems, formerly Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, is a French company involved in the design, development, manufacture and customer support of all types of aircraft landing gear, wheels and brakes and a wholly owned subsidiary of Safran S ...

have a plant in the adjacent commune of

which manufactures landing gear for aircraft. Oloron is also famous, among hat enthusiasts, as the capital of the basque beret, although the beret business has fallen victim to the widespread collapse of the European textile business as well as changing fashions. Today only one beret business survives in Oloron. This is the Béatex company which employs approximately 80 people. The area also benefits from an active agriculture sector, involving animal rearing and general agriculture as well as maize production. It is also part of the AOC defined districts entitled to produce the ewes' cheese,

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 ...

Transport

The railway from Pau to Canfranc passes through Oloron. Oloron railway station is served by

TER Aquitaine TER Aquitaine was the regional rail network serving the Aquitaine ''région'', France. In 2017 it was merged into the new TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Network Rail Road * Agen – Villeneuve-sur-Lot * Ossès – Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry ...

, which operate eight trains per day to Pau and six to

Bedous Bedous is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It is the birthplace of Pierre Laclède, the Frenchman who founded the U.S. city of St. Louis. Its station on the Pau–Canfranc railway was closed after an ac ...

. Public transport in the town is provided by a company called La Navette, which operate three bus routes. Oloron - Herrère Aérodrome is an aerodrome five kilometers southeast of Oloron. It is predominantly used for light aviation and leisure.

Culture and heritage

Language

The local vernacular language is the Béarnese dialect, a dialect of

Gascon language Gascon (; , ) is the name of the vernacular Romance languages, Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony, France. It is often considered a variety (linguistics), variety of Occitan language, Occitan, although some authors consider ...

. One of the eight primary schools of Oloron is a Calandreta, a French/Bearnese bilingual school. The demonym corresponding to Oloron-Sainte-Marie is Oloronais.

Architectural and historical landmarks

The town received the label

French Towns and Lands of Art and History Since 1985, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication has pursued a policy of preserving and promoting France's heritage. Historic towns and districts have been designated ''Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire'' ("Towns and Lands of Art and H ...

in November 2006. Oloron's architectural and historical landmarks : * the 13th century Tour de Grède * the former town hall and prison, classified in 1987 among as

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

* the fortified walls * the 16th century Legugnon castle * the 17th century building in the rue Pomone, classified in 1943 as

* the Parc Pommé * the "Maison du Patrimoine" * the Médiathèque public library that was awarded the Equerre d'Argent architectural award in 2010 (architect :

Pascale Guédot Pascale Guédot (born 1960, Pau in Béarn, France) is a French architect. She was awarded the Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent in 2010. Biography Pascale Guédot was born in Pau in 1960. She studied architecture in Toulouse and at the École National ...

). * the Oloron Cathedral * the Sainte Marie church Tour-Grede 001.jpg, Tour de Grède Oloron Pomme 02.JPG, Parc Pommé Oloron cathédrale ste marie 2.JPG, Cathedral Sainte Marie Oloron N-Dame 01.JPG, Eglise Notre Dame Oloron SainteMarie Tour.JPG, Cathedral Sainte Marie Oloron St-Grat 01.JPG, Saint Great

Cultural life

Oloron is home to a number of festivals : * the jazz festival ''Des Rives & Notes'' on the first weekend of July, * the "Amateur web film festival", organised every spring season to showcase the best short films published on the internet, * the "Book without borders" fair held on the second weekend of June. Oloron-Sainte-Marie has a theatre and concert venue (espace Pierre Jéliote).

Gastronomy

The town is renowned for its hearty vegetables, beans and meat soup, the garbure, for the

cheese, and for a delicacy invented by a local baker in 1925, the pastry "le Russe".

Notable people

Oloron-Sainte-Marie was the birthplace of: *

Louis Barthou Jean Louis Barthou (; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as prime minister saw the introduction (in Jul ...

(1862–1934), politician of the Third Republic *

Cataline Jean-Jacques Caux, known as Cataline, was the most famous mule packer of the Canadian West. Biography Jean Jacques Caux, known as Cataline, was born in rural southern France around 1830, most likely in a town called Oloron in the Bearn region. ...

(1830–1922), explorer *

Ketty Lapeyrette Catherine Julie "Ketty" Lapeyrette (23 July 1884 – 2 October 1960) was a French contralto opera singer. She remained with the Paris Opera for 30 years, seldom performing outside France. From 1944, she taught at the Paris Conservatory. Biograph ...

(1884–1960), opera singer *

Camille Lopez Camille Lopez (born 3 April 1989) is a French rugby union player. He plays as a fly-half for Bayonne. Club career In 2009 it was announced that Lopez would leave SA Mauléon and join Bordeaux, he became an integral part of their team. It has b ...

(born 1989), rugby player

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oloronsaintemarie Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Subprefectures in France Pyrénées-Atlantiques communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia