Athos-Aspis (French pronunciation: [atɔs aspis]; Occitan: Atòs e Aspins) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Athos-Aspis
Remains of the Chateau, home of the original Athos of the Three Musketeers
Remains of the Chateau, home of the original Athos of the Three Musketeers
Location of Athos-Aspis
Map
Athos-Aspis is located in France
Athos-Aspis
Athos-Aspis
Athos-Aspis is located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Athos-Aspis
Athos-Aspis
Coordinates: 43°24′53″N 0°58′20″W / 43.4147°N 0.9722°W / 43.4147; -0.9722
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentPyrénées-Atlantiques
ArrondissementOloron-Sainte-Marie
CantonOrthez et Terres des Gaves et du Sel
IntercommunalityCC Béarn Gaves
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Jean-Robert Lataillade[1]
Area
1
6 km2 (2 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
211
 • Density35/km2 (91/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
64071 /64390
Elevation33–141 m (108–463 ft)
(avg. 80 m or 260 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

edit

Athos-Aspis is located immediately to the north-west of Sauveterre-de-Béarn, and just east of Abitain. Access to the commune is by the D27 road from Sauveterre-de-Béarn, passing through the east of the commune and going north to Oraas. Access to the village can be by several country roads from the D27, including Arriouteque going to Lespitaou and also the Village road. Apart from the village, there is the hamlet of Aspis in the south of the commune. There are also significant forests in the east of the commune with the rest of the farmland.[3]

The Gave d'Oloron forms the whole southern and eastern borders of the commune as it flows north to join the Gave de Pau at Peyrehorade. The Arriouyeque flows from the east of the commune through the centre to join the Gave d'Oloron on the western border. The Ruisseau de Rance rises just east of the commune and flows south-west to join the Arriouteque. The Arrec Heure forms most of the northern border of the commune as it flows west to join the Gave d'Oloron at the north-western corner of the commune.[3]

Places and hamlets

edit
  • Aspis
  • Athos
  • Bouchou
  • Cabé[4]
  • Les Camous
  • La Campagne
  • La Campagnole
  • Castet
  • Cossou
  • Couteigt
  • Desbos (barns)
  • Esperben
  • Gabirot
  • Garampoey
  • Les Garbas
  • Gué
  • Hau
  • Herrou
  • Héuré (mill)
  • Houssas
  • Labourdette
  • Lapeyrigne
  • Lapisque
  • Lavielle
  • Mina (côte de)
  • Mouliède
  • Mousquères
  • Natou
  • Peyrou
  • Poun Agnès
  • Pys[4]
  • Rioutèque[4]
  • Sarrecaute[4]
  • L'Usine

[5]

Toponymy

edit

The commune name in béarnais is Atos-Aspins.

For Athos Michel Grosclaude proposed the patronym Ato with the Aquitaine suffix -ossum. For Aspis Michel Grosclaude proposed a Gascon etymology es pins meaning "the pines".[6]

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

Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description
Athos Atos 11th century Raymond
16
Marca Village
Atos 1119-1136 Grosclaude Cartulary
Sent Per d'Atos 1472 Raymond
16
Notaries
Atos 1745 Grosclaude Notaries
Athos 1750 Cassini
Atos 1790 Cassini2
Aspis Espis 1119-1136 Orpustan Cartulary Village
Espis 1385 Raymond
15
Census
Espiis 1544 Raymond
16
Reformation
Aespiis 1546 Raymond
16
Reformation
Spiis 1548 Raymond
16
Reformation
Aspis 1750 Cassini
Cabé la maison deu Cabee 1538 Raymond
38
Reformation Fief (Vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn)
lo Caver d'Atos 1538 Raymond
38
Reformation
lo Caber 1548 Raymond
38
Reformation
Pys Piis-Jusoo 1385 Raymond
140
Census Fief (Vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn)
Piis-Susoo 1385 Raymond
140
Census
Dues maysons aperades los Piis 1538 Raymond
140
Reformation
Rioutèque L'arriu de Ariuteca 1538 Raymond
142
Reformation Stream
Le Riutèque 1863 Raymond
142
La Salle La Salle d'Athos 1385 Raymond
154
Census Fief (Vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn)
La Sala d'Athos 1538 Raymond
154
Reformation
Sarrecaute Sarrecaute 1385 Raymond
156
Census Farm
Serracaute 1614 Raymond
156
Reformation

Sources:

Origins:

History

edit

Paul Raymond noted on page 16 that in 1385 Athos had 19 fires and depended on the Bailiwick of Sauveterre as did the fief of Aspis as noted on page 15.[4]

The villages of Athos and Aspis were united into one commune on 10 January 1842.[4]

During the Reformation the Priest at Athos was murdered in his church and the village adopted the new ideas.

Athos is the birthplace of Athos, one of the title characters in the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. The fictional Athos is named after the historical musketeer Armand de Sillègue d'Athos d'Autevielle (1615–1644), youngest son of Adrien de Sillègue, Lord of Athos and Autevielle. Autevielle is another nearby village in the commune of Autevielle-Saint-Martin-Bideren.

Administration

edit

List of Successive Mayors[15]

From To Name
1995 2008 Jean-Robert Lataillade
2008 2014 Jean-Michel Peyruseigt
2014 2026 Jean-Robert Lataillade

Inter-communality

edit

The commune is part of five inter-communal structures:[16]

  • the inter-communal centre for social action of Sauveterre-de-Béarn;
  • the Communauté de communes du Béarn des Gaves;
  • the inter-communal association for rivers and of Saleys;
  • the AEP association of Sauveterre-de-Béarn;
  • the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;

Demography

edit

In 2017 the commune had 211 inhabitants.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 416—    
1800 418+0.07%
1806 488+2.61%
1821 515+0.36%
1831 332−4.30%
1836 440+5.79%
1841 421−0.88%
1846 438+0.79%
1851 434−0.18%
1856 390−2.12%
1861 367−1.21%
1866 351−0.89%
1872 337−0.68%
1876 357+1.45%
1881 400+2.30%
1886 373−1.39%
1891 338−1.95%
1896 328−0.60%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 325−0.18%
1906 326+0.06%
1911 314−0.75%
1921 303−0.36%
1926 290−0.87%
1931 291+0.07%
1936 249−3.07%
1946 236−0.53%
1954 217−1.04%
1962 209−0.47%
1968 213+0.32%
1975 203−0.68%
1982 201−0.14%
1990 197−0.25%
1999 203+0.33%
2007 181−1.42%
2012 187+0.65%
2017 211+2.44%
Source: EHESS[17] and INSEE[18]

From 1793 to 1836 the communes of Athos and Aspis were separate but the above table shows the total for both communes during that period.

Economy

edit

Economic activity is mainly agricultural. The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.

 
Remains of the Château of Athos-Aspis, where the musketeer Athos lived

Culture and heritage

edit

Civil heritage

edit

There are the houses of Lascampagnes, the consul Gourlat, and of Bouchoô the place where Monsigneur Bouchoô was born.

Aspis has a château from the 14th century facing the Gave d'Oloron with a terrace and a door to the garden. There is also the site of an old church and the old school.

At Athos there is a church of Romanesque origin in the old fief of Moliède d'Athos where there was a well-known ferry and ruins of a mill.

Religious heritage

edit
 
Church of Saint-Pierre
 
Entrance to the church

The Church of Saint-Pierre is of Romanesque origin and contains a renaissance stoup and a Statue on the Virgin in coloured wood. Behind the Altar is the tomb of Jeanne du Peyrer "Lady of Athos and Aspis" and mother of the musketeer. The renaissance door has a stone carving from the 14th century upside down (it was probably a stone that was reused).

The cemetery has the tomb of the design engineer of the Sauveterre bridge and also that of Edmond Gourlat, consul of France and local personality.

Notable people linked to the commune

edit

The birth of the musketeer Athos in the commune is debatable. A plaque near the church says that he was born in the Lassalle house where only parts of walls remain but the village of Autevielle also claims his birth in the fortified house of Moliède d'Athos which has some remains of strong walls.

Athos was the birthplace of Jean-Baptiste Boucho, born in the Bouchoô house in 1797, French Apostolic vicar of the Malay Peninsula.

Bibliography

edit
  • History of Athos and Aspis, Alexis Ichas (in French)

See also

edit
edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Google Maps
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 (in French)
  5. ^ Géoportail, IGN (in French)
  6. ^ a b Michel Grosclaude, Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages, ISBN 2 35068 005 3 (in French)
  7. ^ Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, New Basque Toponymy, Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006, ISBN 2 86781 396 4 (in French)
  8. ^ Cassini Map 1750 - Aspis
  9. ^ Cassini Map 1790 - Aspit
  10. ^ Pierre de Marca, History of Béarn (in French)
  11. ^ Cartulary of the Abbey of Saint-Jean de Sorde published in extracts in the proofs of the History of Béarn by Pierre de Marca (in French)
  12. ^ Notaries of Labastide-Villefranche in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  13. ^ Manuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  14. ^ Manuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  15. ^ List of Mayors of France (in French)
  16. ^ Intercommunality of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Archived 2014-05-19 at the Wayback Machine, Cellule informatique préfecture 64, consulted on 7 July 2012 (in French)
  17. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Athos-Aspis, EHESS (in French).
  18. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE