Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) 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, and

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

New 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 t ...

, 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 ...

.INSEE commune file
/ref> It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sainte-Suzanne, an independent commune until 1973; residents of the town are called either ''Orthéziens'' or ''Sainte-Suzannais''.

Geography

Orthez straddles the westward-flowing

Gave de Pau The Gave de Pau () is a river of south-western France. It takes its name from the city of Pau, through which it flows. The river is long ( including the Gaves réunis), and its source is at the Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees mountains. The ...

, with most of the town proper having developed on the right bank. Several residential developments and an industrial park are located on the left bank, in addition to Sainte-Suzanne, an associated village entity within the town. A partially artificial lake called 'Lac de l'y grec' (usually just spelled 'Lac de l'Y' i.e. 'Y Lake') () has a pleasant, scenic walking trail.

Orthez station The gare d'Orthez is a railway station in Orthez, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The station is located on the Toulouse - Bayonne railway line. The station is served by TGV (high speed trains), Intercités de Nuit (night trains), Intercités (long d ...

has rail connections to Tarbes, Pau, Bordeaux and Bayonne.

History

During the 12th century, Orthez was the capital of Béarn, after

Morlaàs Morlaàs (; Gascon Morlans) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is the seat of a canton. After the Roman city of Benearnum (today's Lescar) was razed by the Vikings in 841, Morlaàs became the ...

and before Pau, which is still the prefectural administrative capital. At the end of the 12th century, Orthez passed from the possession of the viscounts 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 ...

to that of the viscounts of Bearn, whose chief place of residence it became in the 13th century.

Froissart Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: '' Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthuria ...

records the splendour of the court of Orthez under

Gaston Phoebus Gaston Fébus (also spelt Phoebus) (30 April 1331 – 1391) was the eleventh count of Foix (as Gaston III) and twenty-fourth viscount of Béarn (as Gaston X) from 1343 until his death. Early life Gaston was born either in Orthez or Foix, the e ...

in the latter half of the 14th century.

Jeanne d'Albret Jeanne d'Albret ( Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margar ...

founded a Calvinist university in the town and

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation ...

taught there for some time. An envoy sent in 1569 by Charles IX to revive the Catholic faith had to stand a siege in the

battle of Orthez The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered Fr ...

; the city was eventually taken by assault by the Protestant/Huguenot captain, Gabriel, count of Montgomery. In 1684 Nicholas Foucault, intendant under

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, was more successful, as the inhabitants, ostensibly at least, renounced Protestantism. It is nevertheless still a strong tradition in the town. Another

occurred during the Napoleonic Wars on February 27, 1814, in which the British

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

defeated

Marshal Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Fren ...

on the hills to the north of Orthez.

Gaston Planté Gaston Planté (22 April 1834 – 21 May 1889) was a French physicist who invented the lead–acid battery in 1859. This type battery was developed as the first rechargeable electric battery marketed for commercial use and it is widely used in aut ...

, the French physicist, was born here on the 22 April 1834; his major claim to fame was the invention in 1859 of the lead-acid battery, the common car battery.

Population

Sights

The Gave de Pau is crossed in Orthez by a 14th-century bridge, which has four arches and is surmounted at its centre by a tower. Several old houses, and a church of the 12th, 14th and 15th centuries are of some interest. The most notable building is the Tour Moncade (), a pentagonal tower of the 13th century, once the keep of a castle of the

viscounts of Béarn The viscounts of Béarn (Basque: ''Bearno'', Gascon: ''Bearn'' or ''Biarn'') were the rulers of the viscounty of Béarn, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque province ...

, and now used as a meteorological observatory. A building of the 17th century is all that remains of the old Calvinist university (see below). The town hall is a modern building containing the library.

Economy

The spinning and weaving of hemp and flax, especially of the fabric called ''toile de Béarn'', flour-milling, the manufacture of paper and of leather, and the preparation of hams known as ''jambons de Bayonne'' and other delicacies, are among its industries. There are quarries of stone and marble in the area, and the town has a thriving trade in leather, hams, and lime.

Administration

Orthez has a judicial court but not an appeals court. It was the seat of a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

from 1800 until 1926 (the dates of the creation and abolition of the ''

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

'' (district) ''of Orthez'').

Sports

Orthez is known in sport for basketball with

Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN ...

team, which is one of the most successful French basketball clubs. Orthez is the smallest town of the continent to have won a Euro Cup (

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir ...

in 1984) in all sports.

moved to Pau in 1991. Orthez was the site for the start of Stage 16 in the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was ...

. The main sports clubs of the city are:

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

: *US Orthez (playing in

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 2 ...

championship) Soccer : *Elan Béarnais Orthez

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

: *US Orthez * Élan Béarnais Orthez (from 1908 to 1991)

Notable natives and residents

* Gaston III Febus (1331–1391), viscount of Bearn *

(1528–1572), Queen of Navarre and mother of French King Henry IV * Pierre-Adolphe Lafargue (1818-1869), newspaper publisher and educator in Marksville,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, born in Orthez *

(1834–1889), inventor of lead-acid battery in 1859 *

Francis Planté Francis Planté (2 March 1839 – 19 December 1934) was a French pianist famed as one of the first ever recording artists. Planté was born in Orthez. He studied piano under Antoine Marmontel, his career beginning at the age of seven in Par ...

(1839–1934), French pianist famed as one of the first recording artists. *Armand Reclus (1843–1927), theorized the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

Onésime Reclus Onésime Reclus (22 September 1837 – 30 June 1916) was a French geographer who specialized in the relations between France and its colonies. In 1880 he coined the term " Francophonie" as a means of classification of peoples of the world, bein ...

(1837-1916), born here, geographer * Francis Jammes (1868–1938), poet *

Jean-Louis Curtis Jean-Louis Curtis (22 May 1917 – 11 November 1995), pseudonym of Albert Laffitte, was a French novelist best known for his second novel '' The Forests of the Night'' (French: ''Les Forêts de la nuit''), which won France's highest literary award ...

(1917–1995), novelist *

Daniel d'Auger de Subercase Daniel d'Auger de Subercase (February 12, 1661 – November 20, 1732) was a naval officer and the French governor of Newfoundland and later Acadia. Subercase was baptised a Protestant to Jean Daughter, a rich merchant and bourgeois who had p ...

(1661-1732), soldier *

Alain Ducasse Alain Ducasse (; born 13 September 1956) is a French-born Monégasque chef. He operates a number of restaurants including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester which holds three stars (the top rating) in the Michelin Guide. Early life and career ...

(b.1956), chef. * Joël Suhubiette (b.1962), choral conductor

Twin towns - sister cities