Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby

Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby (French pronunciation: [aʁu itɔʁɔts ɔlajbi]; Basque: Arüe-Ithorrotze-Olhaibi) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby Arüe-Ithorrotze-Olhaibi
Commune
The Town Hall at Aroue
Location of Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby
Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby
Coordinates: 43°19′09″N 0°54′59″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Bayonne
Canton	Pays de Bidache, Amikuze et Ostibarre
Intercommunality	CA Pays Basque
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Michel Sicre
Area 1	17.85 km2 (6.89 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	231
• Density	13/km2 (34/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64049 /64120
Elevation	89–231 m (292–758 ft) (avg. 114 m or 374 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 Church of Saint-Étienne of Aroue in the morning sun.

The Church Tower.

Hilarri in the cemetery in Aroue.

Hilarri in the cemetery in Aroue.

View of the hamlet of Ithorots, the church, and the fronton with a glimpse of the chateau in the background.

The church at Ithorots.

The Chapel at Olhaïbe.

Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby is located in the former Basque province of Soule some 10 km east of Saint-Palais and 10 km south of Sauveterre-de-Béarn. Access to the commune is by the D11 road from Domezain-Berraute in the west passing through the west fork of the commune then Etcharry then the east fork and the village before continuing south-east to Charritte-de-Bas. The commune is mixed forest and farmland.

Located in the Drainage basin of the Adour, the commune is traversed from south to north by the Lafoure (a tributary of the Saison) with its tributary the Hourquet and the Lauhirasse with its tributary the Thiancoenia erreka.

Places and Hamlets

• Abbadie (château)
• Aïntcia
• Aitzaguer
• Aroue
• Bagardoy
• Bartulague
• Begorre
• Beheria
• Benoscar (Forest)
• Bentaberria
• Berhon
• Berrogain
• Bethe
• Bidauria
• Bohoteguia
• Bouhaben
• Carriquiry
• Ertorraenia
• Etchebarnia
• Etcheberria
• Etchecoin
• Etchelecu
• Etchemborde
• Eyherabide
• Garay
• Guestereguia
• Hagoua
• Harguina
• Harguinaborda
• Ithorots
• Jaureguiberria
• Joantho (château)
• Landaco
• Landuchia
• Larraburuzahar
• Larrartia
• Lassartia
• Linchinbiague
• Mendiburia
• Mendicoi
• Mendionde
• Metcha (Mill)
• Olhaïby
• Olhassaria
• Oxaïby
• Oxart
• Oxidoya
• Oyhamburia
• Oyhenart-Chipi
• Oyhençabal
• Pagueguy
• Poulit
• Quillilauquy
• Salla
• Sallagaray
• Saubidet

Toponymy

The commune name in basque is Arüe-Ithorrotze-Olhaibi.

Jean-Baptiste Orpustan indicated that Ithorots possibly signified "source of cold water" and Olhaïby "the ford of the huts".

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

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Aroue	Aroe	1337	Orpustan	228		Village
	Aroa	1385	Raymond	11	Duchesne
	Aroe	1460	Raymond	11	Ohix
	Sent Stephen d'Aroe	1469	Raymond	11	Ohix
	Degaierie de Aroa	1520	Orpustan	228
	Aroue	1690	Orpustan	228
	Aroüe	1750	Cassini
Ithorots	Ithorrodz	1337	Orpustan	233		Village
	Uthorrotz	1469	Orpustan	233
	Itorrotz	1469	Raymond	84	Ohix
	Utorrotz	1478	Raymond	84	Ohix
	Utorrotz	1480	Raymond	84	Ohix
	Ytorrotz	1482	Raymond	84	Ohix
	Y Ptorrotz	1690	Orpustan	233
	Iptorrotz	1690	Orpustan	233
	Ithorrotz	1750	Cassini
	Ittorrolz	1801	EHESS (1)		Bulletin des Lois
Olhaïbi	Olhaivi	1308	Orpustan	233		Village
	Olhabie	1375	Raymond	124	Luntz
	Olƒabie	1376	Raymond	124	Military
	Olhaibie	1385	Raymond	124	Duchesne
	Olhabia	1407	Raymond	124	Duchesne
	Olhayvi	1496	Raymond	124	Ohix
	Olharby	1563	Raymond	124	Languedoc
	Olhayby	1690	Orpustan	233
	Olhaybié	1690	Orpustan	233
	Olhaybi	1750	Cassini
	Olhaiby	1793	EHESS (2)
Abbadie	L'Abbadie	1863	Raymond	1		Lay Abbey of Ithorots, vassal of the Viscounts of Soule
Bartulague	Batrulague	1477	Raymond	22	Ohix	Farm of Ithorots-Olhaïby
	Barthulague	1863	Raymond	22
Béloscar	Belhoscar	1496	Raymond	27	Ohix	Farm in Aroue
Lafaure	La Phaura	1538	Raymond	135	Reformation	Stream which rises in Aroue, crosses Etcharry and joins the Saison at Espiute
	La Phaure	1863	Raymond	135
Olhassaria	Olhassari	17th century	Raymond	124	Arthez-Lasalle	Fief under the Viscounts of Soule
	Olhassarry	1863	Raymond	124

Sources:

• Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, New Basque Toponymy on the page numbers indicated in the table.
• 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
• EHESS (1): Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Ithorots-Olhaïby, EHESS (in French).
• EHESS (2): Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Olhaïbi, EHESS (in French).

Origins:

• Duchesne: Duchesne collection volume CXIV
• 'Ohix: Contracts retained by Ohix, Notary of Soule
• Luntz:
• Military: Military Inspection of Béarn
• Languedoc: Confessions of Languedoc)
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn
• Arthez-Lasalle: Titles of Arthez-Lassalle

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 11 of his 1863 dictionary that Aroue was one of the seven districts of Soule and depended on the messagerie of Barhoue. There was a Lay Abbey at Ithorots, vassal of the Viscounts of Soule. The fief of Olhaïby was a vassal of the Viscounts of Soule and its owner was one of ten potestats of Soule.

The commune had a "Temple of Reason" during the French Revolution, undoubtedly because in the Béarnais region, Aroue was the only Basque commune to adopt the Jacobin anti-religion policy.

Between 1790 and 1794 Ithorots commune was merged with Olhaïby to form the new commune of Ithorots-Olhaïby. On 1 August 1973 (by prefectural order of 20 July 1973), the commune of Aroue merged with Ithorots-Olhaïby to form the new commune of Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name
1953	2001	Franz Duboscq
2001	2008	Marcel Gégu
2008	2014	Jean-Pascal Barneix
2014	2020	Jean-Pierre Barneix
2020	2026	Michel Sicre

Inter-communality

The commune is part of eight inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque;
• the AEP association of Pays de Mixe;
• the AEP association of Pays de Soule;
• the educational regrouping association of Arbérats-Sillègue, Arbouet-Sussaute, Aroue, and Etcharry;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
• the inter-communal association for the functioning of schools in Amikuze;
• the joint forestry association for oaks in the Basque and béarnais valleys;
• the association to support Basque culture.

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arouetarrak. The population data given in the table and graph below for 1968 and earlier refer to the former commune of Aroue.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 464 —     1800 379 −2.85% 1806 543 +6.18% 1821 509 −0.43% 1831 514 +0.10% 1836 555 +1.55% 1841 535 −0.73% 1846 500 −1.34% 1851 506 +0.24% 1856 506 +0.00% 1861 466 −1.63% 1866 393 −3.35% 1872 400 +0.29% 1876 402 +0.12% 1881 368 −1.75% 1886 340 −1.57% 1891 355 +0.87% 1896 352 −0.17%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 328 −1.40% 1906 345 +1.02% 1911 326 −1.13% 1921 268 −1.94% 1926 277 +0.66% 1931 254 −1.72% 1936 249 −0.40% 1946 270 +0.81% 1954 265 −0.23% 1962 268 +0.14% 1968 223 −3.02% 1975 286 +3.62% 1982 249 −1.96% 1990 254 +0.25% 1999 230 −1.10% 2007 255 +1.30% 2012 247 −0.64% 2017 240 −0.57%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Economy

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

Culture and Heritage

Civil heritage

The village has architecture typical of the eastern Basque Country: gable roofs covered with tiles, whitewashed walls with houses from the 16th century.

As in many Basque villages, the fronton is adjacent to the church.

Religious heritage

Two churches are registered as historical monuments:

• The Church of Saint-Étienne at Aroue (12th century) is a Romanesque church rebuilt in the 19th century. There is a sculpture from the 12th century of Saint Jacques on a horse and a Spanish image of "Matamoro".
• The Church of Saint-Samson at Ithorots (19th century)
• The Church at Olhaïby has several items that are registered as historical objects:
  • A Retable over the main altar (18th century)
  • A Candlestick (17th century)
  • An altar cross (18th century)
  • A tabernacle at the main altar (18th century)
  • A candlestick (18th century)
  • Statuettes (18th century)
  • A Painting: The Martyrdom of Saints Cyr and Judith (18th century)
  • A Tabernacle, Retable, 2 Candlesticks, Statues, Altar Cross, and Painting (18th century)
  • A Processional Cross (18th century)

Environmental heritage

The town lies on the GR 65. It is at the beginning of the 7th section of the GR which is listed by UNESCO as World Heritage. The presentation file to UNESCO locates the commune on the Via Podiensis on the Way of St. James. There is no real historical justification for this but it is an important fact for this small town. Justification was found by Dr. Urrutibetehy, the pioneer who traced the paths in the region (it was he who set up the so-called Stele of Gibraltar and made a point of convergence of these paths). He saw in the horseman shown on the lintel of the door of the sacristy, a representation of Saint Jacques Matamoros.

Notable people linked to the commune

• Franz Duboscq, born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1924, MP and senator, former president of the council and mayor of the town until 2001.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

External links

• ITHORROTZE and OLHAIBI in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) (in Spanish)
• Aroue and the 7th stage of GR 65 registered as World Heritage (in French)
• Aroue-Ithorots-Olhaïby on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Aroüe, Ittorrotz, and Olliaybi on the 1750 Cassini Map