The Aspe Valley (, ; ) is a valley in the French part of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, department of

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon language, Gascon Occitan language, Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; ) is a Departments of France, department located in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the southwest corner of metropolitan ...

Geography

It is one of the three valleys located in the historic region of upper

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; 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 Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

, along with the

Ossau Valley The Ossau Valley ( ; / ) is a valley of the France, French Pyrénées, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''departments of France, département''. Administration 18 communes of France, communes belong to the Valley: Arudy, Aste-Béon, Béost, Besca ...

to the east and Barétous Valley to the west. The valley of Aspe stretches for 25 miles along the river

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 ...

, roughly going from the town of

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 (disambiguatio ...

to the Spanish border where it meets the Aragon Valley, named after the Spanish

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

. Thirteen towns, or communes, are established in the valley. From the north to the south, these are:

* Ascot (disambiguatio ...

, Lourdios-Ichère,

Sarrance Sarrance (; ) 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 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atl ...

Bedous Bedous (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Bedós'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in southwestern France. It is the birthplace of Pierre Laclède, the Frenchman who founded the U.S. ci ...

Osse-en-Aspe Osse-en-Aspe (, literally ''Osse in Aspe''; ) 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 545 Communes of France, ...

, Aydius, Accous,

Lées-Athas Lées-Athas (; ) 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 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-At ...

Lescun Lescun () is a village and a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is at an elevation of approximately in a grand cirque. Lescun is situated on the GR 10 long-distance footpath traversing the Pyrenees ...

, Cette-Eygun,

Etsaut Etsaut (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. Its station on the Pau–Canfranc railway was closed after an accident in 1970. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The fol ...

Borce Borce (; ) 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 545 Communes of France, communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

and

Urdos Urdos (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. Its station on the Pau–Canfranc railway was closed after an accident in 1970. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The foll ...

Language

The traditional dialect spoken in the valley is Gascon, a regional variety of

Occitan language Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, ...

History

The region has been invaded by many groups through its history: Moors, Romans, Germanic tribes, as well as kingdoms in Spain. In 1620, the sovereign state of

, in which the valley was located, was annexed by the kingdom of France. During the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

in 1808, the troops of Napoleon passed through the valley while invading Spain.

References

{{Coord, 42.9500, N, 0.6000, W, source:wikidata, display=title Valleys of France Landforms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques