Aressy

Aressy (French pronunciation: [aʁɛsi]; Occitan: Arèssi) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. It is part of the urban area (unité urbaine) of Pau.

Aressy
Commune
The Lagoin river at the church
Location of Aressy
Aressy Aressy
Coordinates: 43°16′38″N 0°19′23″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Ouzom, Gave et Rives du Neez
Intercommunality	CA Pau Béarn Pyrénées
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Claude Ferrato
Area 1	2.15 km2 (0.83 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	823
• Density	380/km2 (990/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64041 /64320
Elevation	179–244 m (587–801 ft) (avg. 241 m or 791 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Aressy is located four kilometres south-east of Pau within the urban area of Pau. Access to the commune is by the D937 road from Pau which continues south-east to Meillon.

The Idelis bus route P23 stops at Aressy Clinic at Pôle Bosquet. The commune is also served by Route 835 of the Interurban network of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Transports 64) between Bénéjacq and Pau, and by Route 805 between Lourdes and Pau.

Much of the commune is residential with some farmland and a large lake in the south.

The Gave de Pau flows north-west through the western part of the commune, and the Lagoin flows through the centre of the commune before joining the Gave de Pau just north-west of the commune.

Places and Hamlets

• Las Costes
• Labielle
• Marque
• Matachot
• Le Saligat

Toponymy

Its name in Bearnais is Aressi (according to the classical norm of Occitan).

Brigitte Jobbé-Duval indicates that the place name could come from the Basque, meaning "place where there are rocks" which would confirm the hypothesis by Michel Grosclaude of ar- ("stone or rock") with the Basque locative suffix -etz transformed into -esse.

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Aressy	Aressa	1010	Jobbé			Village
	Aressa	1101	Raymond	9	Lescar
	Aresi	12th century	Raymond	9	Lescar
	Arecii	1376	Raymond	9	Military
	Eressi	1385	Raymond	9	Census
	Arecii	1538	Raymond	9	Reformation
	Arressii	1546	Raymond	9	Reformation
	Aressy	1750	Cassini
	Arressy	1793	Ldh/EHESS/Cassini
Le Junca	Le Junca	1863	Raymond	86		Place
Les Pelades	Les Pelades	1863	Raymond	133		Place
Le Saliga	Le Saliga	1863	Raymond	133		Moor
Le Tuquet	Le Tuquet	1863	Raymond	169		Wood

Sources:

• Jobbé: Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, Dictionary of place names - Pyrénées-Atlantiques
• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)
• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750
• Ldh/EHESS/Cassini: Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Aressy, EHESS (in French).

Origins:

• Lescar: Cartulary of Lescar
• Military: Military Inspection of Béarn
• Census: Census of Béarn
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 9 of his dictionary that the commune had a Lay Abbey, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn. In 1385, Aressy had nine fires and depended on the bailiwick of Pau.

Administration

The Town Hall

Aressy Medical Centre

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name	Party
1995	2001	Monique Lanusse-Cazalé
2001	2026	Claude Ferrato	MoDem

Inter-communality

Aressy is part of nine inter-communal structures:

• the Public agency of local management;
• the Communauté d'agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées;
• the AEP association for the Jurançon region;
• the defense against floods association for the Lagoin catchment area;
• the energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
• the inter-communal association for the Narcastet leisure centre;
• the inter-communal association for defense against flooding of the Gave de Pau;
• the inter-communal association for the construction and operation of the CES of Bizanos;
• the Joint association for urban transport Pau - Porte des Pyrenees

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arésyiens or Arésyiennes in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 480 —     1800 215 −10.84% 1806 202 −1.03% 1821 230 +0.87% 1831 276 +1.84% 1836 273 −0.22% 1841 288 +1.08% 1846 314 +1.74% 1851 313 −0.06% 1856 334 +1.31% 1861 345 +0.65% 1866 343 −0.12% 1872 360 +0.81% 1876 355 −0.35% 1881 368 +0.72% 1886 374 +0.32% 1891 345 −1.60% 1896 326 −1.13%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 346 +1.20% 1906 328 −1.06% 1911 321 −0.43% 1921 320 −0.03% 1926 357 +2.21% 1931 429 +3.74% 1936 418 −0.52% 1946 416 −0.05% 1954 450 +0.99% 1962 399 −1.49% 1968 476 +2.98% 1975 601 +3.39% 1982 578 −0.56% 1990 546 −0.71% 1999 543 −0.06% 2007 571 +0.63% 2012 638 +2.24% 2017 712 +2.22%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Aressy War Memoprial

Economy

The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone designation of Ossau-iraty.

Culture and Heritage

The Church of Saint Denys

Religious heritage

The Parish Church of Saint Denys (1874) is registered as an historical monument.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

External links

• Areßy on the 1750 Cassini Map