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

department, region of

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

(before 2015:

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

), southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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 and

Saragossa Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributar ...

, its position was strategic. Today known as Saint-Great,

Gratus of Oloron Saint Gratus of Oloron (french: Grat d'Oloron; ca, Grat d'Auloron; also known, from his place of birth, as ''Grat de Lichos'') (born 5th century; died after 506) was the first bishop of Oloron. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Ch ...

became in 506 the first known archbishop of the

Ancient Diocese of Oloron The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Oloron was a Latin rite bishopric in Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, Aquitaine region of south-west France, from the 6th to the 19th century. History The diocese of Oleron already existed in the 6th cen ...

then known as "Iluro". The history of the town during the Migration Period is little known. In 1080, the viscount Centule V, Viscount of Béarn 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 held by the Moors. The

Oloron Cathedral Oloron Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Sainte-Marie d'Oloron-Sainte-Marie), now St. Mary's Church (french: Eglise Sainte-Marie), is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral located in the town of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

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 The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

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 The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

Oloron lost its diocese to Bayonne 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 The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, 50 km from the Spanish border and 100 km from the

Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, Oloron-Sainte-Marie is at the confluence of two '' gaves'' (mountain rivers), the

Gave d'Aspe The Gave d'Aspe is a torrential river flowing through the Aspe Valley, one of the three main valleys of the High- Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), in the southwest of France. It is long. It is formed in the ''Aspe Cirque'', below the Aspe pea ...

and the

Gave d'Ossau The Gave d'Ossau is the torrential river flowing through the Ossau Valley, one of the three main valleys of the High- Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), in the Southwest of France. It is formed in Gabas from the confluence of two gaves coming fr ...

that merge to form the

gave d'Oloron The Gave d'Oloron is a river of south-western France near the border with Spain. It takes its name from the city Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where it is formed from the rivers Gave d'Aspe and Gave d'Ossau. It joins the Gave de Pau in Peyrehorade to fo ...

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

Aspe Valley The Aspe Valley is a valley in the French part of the Pyrenees, department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Geography It is one of the three valleys located in the historic region of upper Béarn, along with the Ossau Valley to the east and Baré ...

, the Ossau Valley and the Barétous Valley. Neighboring communes:

Esquiule Esquiule (; eu, Eskiula)ESKIULA
Moumour, Ledeuix, Estos, Cardesse, Monein, Goès, Précilhon, Escout, Herrère, Ogeu-les-Bains, Buziet, Arudy, Escot,

Asasp-Arros Asasp-Arros (; oc, Asasp e Arròs) 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 ''Asaspois'' or ''Asaspoises''. Geography Asas ...

Lurbe-Saint-Christau Lurbe-Saint-Christau (; oc, Lurbe e Sent Cristau) 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 th ...

Eysus Eysus (; oc, Eisús) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department References

Communes of Pyré ...

Gurmençon Gurmençon () 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 o ...

, Bidos, Agnos, Ance and Féas.

Climate

The town has an oceanic climate, with mild and humid winters and cool or moderately warm summers. Rain is quite abundant (above 900 mm per year) and is mostly concentrated during cold season.

Population

Economy

The Oloron economy is dominated by two well known manufacturing businesses: : *

Lindt & Sprüngli Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its ...

have a chocolate factory in Oloron. : * Safran Landing Systems have a plant in the adjacent commune of Bidos which manufactures landing gear for aircraft. Oloron is also famous, among hat enthusiasts, as the capital of the basque

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

, 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 Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

production. It is also part of the

AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of ...

defined districts entitled to produce the ewes' cheese, Ossau-Iraty.

Transport

The railway from Pau to Canfranc passes through Oloron. Oloron railway station is served by TER Aquitaine, which operate eight trains per day to Pau and six to Bedous. 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 Béarnese ( endonym or ) designates the whole of the Occitano-Romance languages of Béarn. Linguistics does not distinguish Béarnese from Gascon; these languages form a homogeneous whole within the Pyrenees- Atlantic-Garonne triangle. The o ...

, a dialect of Gascon language. One of the eight primary schools of Oloron is a

Calandreta A Calandreta () is a bilingual school in Southern France where the Occitan language is a medium of instruction, alongside French. These schools are based on the same principle as the '' Diwan'' schools of Brittany, as well as the '' Gaelscoileanna' ...

, 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 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 * the fortified walls * the 16th century Legugnon castle * the 17th century building in the rue Pomone, classified in 1943 as Monument historique * the Parc Pommé * the "Maison du Patrimoine" * the

Médiathèque A multimedia library is a public institution functioning as a library, containing not only paper and electronic books, newspapers and magazines, but also multimedia materials like videos (movies, documentaries) and sound recordings (music, audio b ...

public library that was awarded the Equerre d'Argent architectural award in 2010 (architect : Pascale Guédot). * the

* 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 ''Garbure'' is a thick French stew traditionally based on cabbage and confit d'oie,ROBUCHON, J., & MONTAGNÉ, P. (2001). Larousse gastronomique. New York, Clarkson Potter. though the modern version is usually made with ham, cheese and stale bread ...

, for the Ossau-Iraty 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 (1862–1934), politician of the Third Republic * Cataline (1830–1922), explorer * Ketty Lapeyrette (1884–1960), opera singer * Camille Lopez (born 1989), rugby player