Arbérats-Sillègue ()ARBERATZE-ZILHEKOA

Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia Pic d'Anie (Basque Auñamendi) is a mountain of the Pyrenees in France, located close to the Spanish border. It is high. The mountain boasts an almost perfect pyramidal shape and is surrounded by the spectacular karst landscape of. ''Larra'', i ...

is a commune 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 in the

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 ...

region of 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 ar ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arberaztar'' in Basque.

Brigitte Jobbé-Duval Brigitte Jobbé-Duval is a French historian and linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects ...

, ''Dictionary of place names - Pyrénées-Atlantiques'', 2009, Archives and Culture, Euskaltzaindia - Academy of the Basque language
(Basque)

Geography

Arbérats-Sillègue is located in ''Mixe Country'' in the former Basque province of

Lower Navarre Lower Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; french: Basse-Navarre ; es, Baja Navarra) is a traditional region of the present-day French ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the ...

, 3 km north-east of Saint-Palais and 10 km south-west of

Sauveterre-de-Béarn Sauveterre-de-Béarn (, literally ''Sauveterre of Béarn''; oc, Sauvatèrra; eu, Salbaterra Bearno) is a medieval village perched above the Gave d'Oloron and facing the Pyrenees in south-western France. It is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atl ...

. The D933 road from Saint-Palais to Osserain-Rivareyte in the north passes through the northern part of the commune. The D134 road passes through the east of the commune from Sussaute in the north continuing south to join the D11 road west of Domezain-Berraute. Access to the village is by country road from the western border passing through the village and going east to join the D134.Google Maps
/ref> The commune is located in the

Drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the Adour. The ''Ruisseau de Recaide'' forms part of the northern border flowing north-west to join the ''Bidouze''. The ''Ruisseau d'Eyherachar'' rises north-east of the village and flows west through the commune then south forming part of the western border before joining the Bidouze just south of Aïcirits ( Aïcirits-Camou-Suhast).

Historical places and hamlets

* Aguerre * Aitciria * Amandania * Apezetchia * Arbérats * Beheitia * Bentaberria * Bidegorria * Bilhagnia * Bitenia * Brigni * Chibits * Chiloa * Chunta * Elhorriburia * Etcheparia * Idiartia * Iratzia * Irunia * Jemai * Mendiburia * Michicourt * Mignaburia * Osquilia * Oxarrainia * Oxarrainia Etchartia * Oyhanto * Peritcho * Salanbeheria * Sillègue 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 dist ...

Toponymy

The name of the commune in

basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous c ...

is ''Arberatze-Zilhekoa''. Paul Raymond indicated on page 161 of his 1863 dictionary that Sillègue in Basque was ''Silhecoa''. Jean-Baptiste Orpustan suggested two possible origins of the name ''Arbérats'', both from

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous c ...

: ''ar(r)-bera'' (or ) meaning ’fragile’ or ’friable'; or, together with the word , meaning a "black stone" (slate).

also interpreted ''Arbérats'' as ''place of slate''. For ''Sillègue'' Jean-Batiste Orpustan suggested the name was a blend of the Basque word ''zil(h)o'', meaning "hole" or "depression in the terrain" and a second element ''leku'' meaning "place". The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources: *Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
'' New Basque Toponymy''
ref name="Orpustan">Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
''New Basque Toponymy''
Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006, *

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ...

:''
''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 *Cassini1: *Cassini2: Origins: *Duchesne: Duchesne collection volume CXIVDuchesne Collection, volumes 99 to 114, containing the papers of Oihenart, former Imperial Librarian -

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national reposito ...

*Ohix: *Pamplona: Titles of

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

Titles published by don José Yanguas y Miranda *Notaries: Notaries of Labastide-VillefrancheDepartmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Regulations: Regulations of the Court of Licharre

History

The village of Sillègue was merged with Arbérats on 14 April 1841.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Inter-communality

The commune belongs to five inter-communal structures: *the

Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque The communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque ( eu, Euskal Hirigune Elkargoa), is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, cities of Bayonne and Bia ...

; *the energy syndicate of Pyrénées-Atlantiques; *the Inter-communal association for the functioning of schools in Amikuze; *the Syndicat Elgarrekin Ikas; *the Agence publique de gestion locale.

Demography

In 1350 there were 13 fires in Arbérats and 6 in Sillègue.Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, Collective work, ''Amikuze - Mixe Country'', Éditions Izpegi, 1992, , p. 77 The fiscal census of 1412–1413, made on the orders of

Charles III of Navarre Charles III (1361 – 8 September 1425), called the Noble, was King of Navarre from 1387 to his death and Count of Évreux from 1387 to 1404, when he exchanged it for the title Duke of Nemours. He spent his reign improving the infrastructure of ...

, compared with that of 1551 "of men and weapons that are in this Kingdom of Navarre below the ports" reveals a demography with strong growth. The first indicated the presence at Arbérats of 7 fires, the second of 26 (24 + 2 secondary fires). The same for Sillègue: the 1412 census reported 5 fires and that of 1551 22 fires (20 + 2 secondary fires). The census of the population of

in 1695 showed 40 fires at Arbérats and 20 at Sillègues. In 2017 the commune had 257 inhabitants. Although from 1793 to 1836 Arbérats and Sillègue were separate communes, the total population for both communes is shown in the table and graph below.

Economy

The commune is part of the

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

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 B ...

Culture and Heritage

According to the ''Map of the Seven Basque Provinces'' published in 1863 by Prince

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

dialect spoken in Arbérats-Sillègue is western lower-navarrese.

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint-Laurent (1615) is registered as an historical monument.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée

Facilities

Education

The commune has an elementary school

Festivals

The commune has a festival hall located in the centre of the village. The original building was a school and has been completely renovated.

Sports

As it was only equipped with a left wall, Arbérats-Sillègue in 2007 opened a new fronton with toilets and a

Pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/ball ...

area. There is also a football field in the same complex.

Leisure

A pit dating to Roman times has been converted to a leisure park.