Aast (, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Aast is the first commune in France by alphabetical order.
Geography
Location The village is situated on the plateau of Ger and is composed of a dozen scattered houses. Aast is 20 km east of Pau and 20 km north of Lourdes. Access to the commune is by road D70 then D311 north-east from Gardères, road D64 north-west from Ger, and road D311 when coming south from Ponson-Dessus. Other country roads can also be used to access the commune.Google Maps
Hydrography Located in the Drainage basin of the Adour, Aast is traversed by the Carbouère stream, a tributary of the Louet river.
Localities and hamlets
Aast Bayet Bidou Cadet France Gachau Hourcade Lasbordes Lasserre Lassus Lescloupe Mouly Pouquet Rémy Toulou
Géoportail , IGN, consulted on 14 October 2011
Neighbouring communes and villages
Toponymy Aast is the first French commune in alphabetical order. Previously, Aas, another commune in the Lower Pyrenees, came first until 1861, when it merged with the commune of Assouste to form the new commune of Eaux-Bonnes.
The commune's Béarnais name is also Aast.
According to Dauzat and Rostaing Aast comes from the Basque ast ("rock"). This seems unlikely given the physical setting. Michel GrosclaudeMichel Grosclaude, Toponymical Dictionary of communes, Béarn, ed. Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006 , page 201 suggests that the name of the town derives from an anthroponym composed of Aner + Aster. Brigitte Jobbé-DuvalBrigitte Jobbé-Duval, Dictionary of place names - Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2009, ed. Archives and Culture recalls that in 1429, Aast appeared as Hast, which means lance, and therefore advanced the theory that Aast could refer to a battle that occurred there.
The following table details the origins of the commune name.
Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description Aast Hast 1429 Raymond Census Village Ast 1544 Raymond Reformation Aast 1750 Cassini
Sources:
Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees , Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750Cassini Map 1750 – Aast
Origins: Census: Census of MontanerManuscript from 1429 in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Reformation: Reformation of BéarnManuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
History There was a Lay Abbey in Aast which was abolished in 1791. The Lordship of Aast was owned by the Day family from 1674 until the French Revolution. In 1678, Jérome de Day, adviser to the king, bought the abbey and tithes with rights of patronage: he was to provide a priest and entitled to receive a portion of the tithe, to sit in the choir, to be first to receive the blessed bread, and to be buried in the church.
Heraldry
Administration List of Successive Mayors of AastList of Mayors of France
From To Name 1800 1802 Jean Poublan 1802 1806 Matthieu Tisné 1806 1820 Jean Bidou 1820 1822 Michel Naude 1822 1824 Alexis Lassus 1824 1828 Michel Naude 1828 1835 Pierre Capdevielle 1835 1837 Alexis Lassus 1837 1852 Pierre Picourlat 1852 1865 Barthélémy Lassus 1865 1871 Jean Lassus (fils) 1871 1881 Jacques Tisné Daban 1881 1889 Jean Lasserre 1889 1892 Pierre Tisné Daban 1892 1904 Jean Lasserre 1904 1919 Jean Sarthou 1919 1942 Jacques Louis Lasserre
Mayors from 1942 From To Name Party Position 1942 1944 Dominique Picourlat 1944 1945 Célestin Tisné Daban 1945 1945 Jean Sylvain Lascassies 1945 1949 Célestin Tisné Daban 1949 1983 Jean Lassus 1983 2008 Jean-Noël Lacourrège RPR then UMP General Councillor 2008 2019 Romain MorlanneDVD 2020 2024 Jean-François Garnier 2024 2026 Loïc Herve
Population
The inhabitants are known as Aastois(es) in French.Pyrénées-Atlantiques, habitants.fr
Culture and heritage
Civil heritage The town has a number of old farmhouses: The Fray Farmhouse (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A Farmhouse at Bayet (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Houses and Farms (18th and 19th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
Religious heritage
The Church of Saint Martin (1854)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours was built under Napoleon III during the administration of Mayor Bartholomew Lassus. Recently renovated by the artist Villarubias, there are many objects in the church registered as historical objects: A Processional Lantern (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Thurible (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Pail for holy water (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Painting: Christ on the cross with the Virgin, Saint Madeleine and Saint Martin (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy 2 Paintings: Saint Martin Bishop, and the Charity of St. Martin (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy Statue: Saint Joseph (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy Altar Pulpit (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Pulpit (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy 2 Altars and Tabernacles (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy The Main Altar (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy 5 stained glass windows by Henri Gesta (1927)Ministry of Culture, Palissy The Furniture in the ChurchMinistry of Culture, Palissy
See also Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
References
External links Aast on the 1750 Cassini Map