Argelos, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Argelos (Argelòs in Occitan) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. It is part of the urban area (aire d'attraction des villes) of Pau.

Argelos
Commune
Argelos
Location of Argelos
Argelos Argelos
Coordinates: 43°27′09″N 0°20′47″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Terres des Luys et Coteaux du Vic-Bilh
Intercommunality	CC Luys Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Marcel Borny
Area 1	6.01 km2 (2.32 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	285
• Density	47/km2 (120/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64043 /64450
Elevation	142–264 m (466–866 ft) (avg. 158 m or 518 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

The Town Hall

The War Memorial

The bell tower of the Church of Saint-André

Argelos is located some 25 km north of Pau and 3 km west of Auriac. Access to the commune is by the D214 road from the village north to join the D944 road south-east of Thèze. The A65 autoroute passes through the northern tip of the commune but the nearest exit is Exit 9 near Miossens-Lanusse. The commune is mixed farmland and forest.

Located in the Drainage basin of the Adour, the Luy de France forms the north-eastern border of the commune as it flows north-west fed by its tributaries the Basta and the Balaing.

Places and Hamlets

• Barbé
• La Barthe
• Bordenave
• Boué
• Bourdalé
• Bozano
• Brouca
• Carrère
• Cassou
• Castagnet
• Chicoy
• Dibet
• Hargouette
• Hayet
• Labarrane
• Lamarque
• La Lane
• Larricq
• Lavignotte
• Lopou
• Loubané or Loubâne
• Morlaas
• Noble
• Poulou
• Sansarricq
• Tauhuré
• Then

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is Argelos. Brigitte Jobbé-Duval indicated that Argelos probably had a Latin origin of argilla (meaning "Clay") with the suffix -ossum. The meaning of the name would then be "clay soil".

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

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Argelos	Argilos	1214	Raymond	10	Chapter of Argelos	Village
	Argelos	1750	Cassini
Bernès	Bernet	1385	Raymond	10	Census	Farm

Sources:

• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750

Origins:

• Census: Census of Béarn

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 10 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 there were 29 fires in Argelos and it depended on the bailiwick of Pau. Auriac was formerly annexed to the commune.

The barony of Viven included Argelos, Auriac, and Viven and was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name
1995	2014	Hélène Peyras
2014	2026	Marcel Borny

Intercommunality

Argelos is part of 4 inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté de communes des Luys en Béarn;
• the AEP association of the regions of Luy and Gabas;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques ;
• the scholastic association Argelos - Astis.

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 282 inhabitants.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 325 —     1800 533 +7.32% 1806 414 −4.12% 1821 357 −0.98% 1831 361 +0.11% 1836 392 +1.66% 1841 395 +0.15% 1846 373 −1.14% 1851 309 −3.69% 1856 307 −0.13% 1861 309 +0.13% 1866 293 −1.06% 1872 300 +0.39% 1876 301 +0.08% 1881 317 +1.04% 1886 301 −1.03% 1891 283 −1.23% 1896 255 −2.06%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 268 +1.00% 1906 283 +1.10% 1911 249 −2.53% 1921 214 −1.50% 1926 201 −1.25% 1931 206 +0.49% 1936 201 −0.49% 1946 173 −1.49% 1954 150 −1.77% 1962 133 −1.49% 1968 128 −0.64% 1975 136 +0.87% 1982 131 −0.53% 1990 197 +5.23% 1999 217 +1.08% 2007 253 +1.94% 2012 250 −0.24% 2017 282 +2.44%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Culture and Heritage

Civil Heritage

The commune has several buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

• The Maison Marque Farmhouse (18th century)
• A Farmhouse at Loubané (18th century)
• The Maison Lavignotte-Lagrela Farmhouse at Lavignotte (18th century)
• A Farmhouse at Lamarque (1725)
• Houses and Farms (18th century)
• A Fortified Complex at Lopou (Middle Ages)

Religious Heritage

The Parish Church of Saint-André (12th century) is registered as an historical monument. It contains many items which are registered as historical objects:

• The Furniture in the Church
• Two Dalmatics (18th century)
• A Sunburst Monstrance (19th century)
• 4 altar Candlesticks (19th century)
• 2 banks of Pews (19th century)
• A Confessional (18th century)
• An Altar, Tabernacle, and Retable in the Altar of the Virgin (17th century)
• 2 Hanging Lighting Brackets (18th century)
• A Painting: Christ on the Cross (1935)
• 2 Statues: Saints Pierre and André (18th century)
• A Retable (18th century)
• A Tabernacle (17th century)
• An Altar with 2 banks of seating (17th century)
• The whole main Altar

Education

Argelos has a primary school which is shared with Astis as an inter-communal educational grouping.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

External links

• Community of communes of Luys en Béarn (in French)
• Argelos on the 1750 Cassini Map