Agnos (; oc, Anhòs) 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 Atlanti ...

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 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 ...

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 and t ...

in southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Agnos is part of the urban area (''

unité urbaine In France, an urban unit (''fr: "unité urbaine"'') is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a ...

'') of

Oloron-Sainte-Marie Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France. History The town was founded by the ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Agnosiens'' or ''Agnosiennes''

Geography

Agnos is located just 2 km south of

and some 25 km southwest of Pau. It can be accessed on the D155 road from

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 the Pyrénées-Atlantiques depar ...

in the northeast coming southwest to the village then continuing southeast to

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 ...

. The D555 road also passes through the commune from the north and joins the D155 northeast of the village. The commune is mixed farmland and forests with the forests scattered throughout the commune. The river Mielle, a tributary of 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 form ...

(

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 ...

basin), flows through the commune.

Places and hamlets

* La Baig * Candalot * Dufau * Fontaine Anglade * Laborde-Boy * Lasserre * Ledorré * Logecoop * Mirande * Le Plouts * Sayette * Sentin

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is ''Anhos''.

Michel Grosclaude Michel Grosclaude (; oc, Miquèu; 1926–2002) was a philosopher and French linguist, and an author of works on grammar, lexicography and Occitan onomastics. Biography Born on 8 July 1926 in Nancy at (Meurthe-et-Moselle). He was the son of ...

suggested that ''Agnos'' came from a Latin man's name ''Annius'' with an Aqitaine suffix ''-ossum'' the whole meaning "domain of Annius". The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources: *

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 *Grosclaude: ''Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn'', 2006

, ''Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn'', Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages, *Cassini:

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 ...

from 1750 Origins: *

Fors de Béarn The Fors de Bearn, or fueros of Béarn, are a series of legal texts (privileges, rulings, judicial sentences, decrees, formularies) compiled over centuries (mostly the eleventh to thirteenth) in the Viscounty of Béarn. Together they formed th ...

Manuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques *Census: Census of Béarn *Reformation: Reformation of BéarnManuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 3 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 Agnos had seventeen

fires Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are pr ...

and depended on the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

of Oloron. The commune was merged with

on 1 February 1973 to form the commune called ''Val-du-Gave d'Aspe''. It was restored to its previous status on 1 January 1983.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Agnos

Inter-communality

The town is part of five inter-communal organisations: *the Community of communes of Haut Béarn *the SIVU to limit floods in Agnos *the AEP Union for Agnos-Gurmençon *the Inter-communal Union for Sanitisation for the Aspe gateway *the energy union for Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Population

Economy

The activity of the commune is mainly agricultural (farming, polyculture). The town 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 boun ...

(AOC) 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

Religious Heritage

The Church has a

Trinitarian steeple A trinitarian steeple is a 3-point steeple typical of the province of Soule of Basque Country in France. The three points symbolize the Holy Trinity.Philippe Veyrin, ''Les Basques'', page 241 - Arthaud, 20 décembre 1975 The steeple is general ...

(the presence of a

Bell-gable The bell gable ( es, espadaña, french: clocher-mur, it, campanile a vela) is an architectural element crowning the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower. It consists of a gable end in stone, with small ho ...

or ''campenard''). It contains many items which are registered as historical objects (although some were destroyed by fire in 1968): *An

Altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

(destroyed) (18th century) *6 Candlesticks (destroyed) (18th century) *A Cross (destroyed) (18th century) *A

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

(destroyed) (18th century) *A

Chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. Re ...

(18th century) *A Ciborium (18th century) *A

Retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate structur ...

(destroyed) (18th century)

Environmental heritage

The Forests of Bugangue and Labaigt are inter-association woods managed by the National Office of Forests (ONF) which provide valuable shelter for preserving local flora and fauna. Many species are protected. An

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

is a result of collaboration with the ONF. The ''Mielle'', a small stream that rises in Agnos, is listed in the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

program for three rare species:

white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the easter ...

European pond turtle The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Western Palearct ...

s, and the rare

European mink The European mink (''Mustela lutreola''), also known as the Russian mink and Eurasian mink, is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to Europe. It is similar in colour to the American mink, but is slightly smaller and has a less specialized ...

which does not exist anywhere in France except in the south-west. The Pyrenees are rich in scenery and the village of Agnos is the starting point of one of the most attractive routes for cycling across the foothills: From Agnos to Mail Arrouil and back (four hours of cycling or seven hours of walking) in a variety of environments, moors, rocks, meadows with views of the Pyrenees. This route, like many others, is managed by the ''local hiking plan'' of the ''Community of communes of Piémont Oloronais'' (CCPO).

Facilities

;Associations The model aircraft club welcomes its members in the Sayette neighborhood. ;Education The town has a primary school. ;Multi-Media Library The Multi-media library project of the ''CCPO'' identified the municipal library of Agnos as a ''relay point''. ;Sports and sports equipment The basketball club merged with that of Asasp in 2006 to form BCHB (Basketball Club of Haut-Bearn).

Notable People linked to the commune

*Catherine Capdevielle, born in 1938 in Agnos, is an athlete specialising in ordeal sprinting.

References

External links

Agnos Town Hall website

Agnos official website

Community of communes of Piémont oloronais website

{{authority control Communes of Pyrénées-Atlantiques