Ahetze (; ; ) is a village and a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. The commune is part of the urban area of Bayonne,Commune d'Ahetze (64009), INSEE and of the traditional Basque province of Labourd.AHETZE, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia
Geography
Location The commune is located some 13 km southwest of Bayonne and 30 km northeast of Donostia-San-Sebastion and only 4 km from the Atlantic beaches of Bidart and Guéthary.
Access Ahetze village is at the intersection of departmental roads D655 from Arbonne to Bidart and D855 from Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle to Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The commune can be accessed from Exit 4 (Biarritz La Négresse) and Exit 3 (Saint-Jean-de-Luz nord) from the A63 autoroute.
The Biarritz–Anglet–Bayonne Airport is 15-minute drive from the village.
Hydrography The river Zirikolatzeko erreka, a tributary of the Uhabia, flows through the commune, as well as several of its tributaries, including the Amisolako, Uroneko, and Besaingo.
Paul Raymond also stated in his Topographical dictionary of Bearn-Basque Country in 1863 that a tributary of the Alborga: the Haïstéchéhé flows through Ahetze after rising in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle.
Localities and hamlets
Adamenea Aguerria Amizola Arrakotenea Belhardiko Errota Biperenborda Borda Dorrea Etxebiaga Haroztegia Harrieta Ithurbidea Ithurbidenborda Laharraga Larramendia Larreluzea Larretxeberria Larrunta or Larruntaldea Martikotenea Mulienea Olhagaina Ostaleriaborda Solorzano Uhartea Xaharrenea Ximikoenea Xirrikenea
Géoportail, IGN
Toponymy The commune name in Basque is also Ahetze.
Jean-Baptiste Orpustan suggested that Ahetze comes from aiz meaning "stone" and by extension "high rock" (see also: Ahaitz).
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description Ahetze Ahece 1083 Orpustan Village Ahese 1170 Orpustan Aheze 1170 Orpustan de Hetsa 1249 Orpustan Villa quœ dicitur Ahece 12th century Raymond Bayonne Aheze 13th century Raymond Bayonne Ahetce 1302 Raymond Chapter Ahetze 19th century Lhande Amisolako erreka Amisola 1863 Raymond Stream Larrustaldéa Larungoriz 13th century Raymond Bayonne Village Ouhas-Aldéa Ouhas-Aldéa 1863 Raymond Hamlet
Sources: Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, New Basque Toponymy Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011) Lhande: Pierre Lhande, Basque-French Dictionary 1926
Origins: Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or Livre d'Or (Book of Gold)Manuscript from the 14th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of BayonneChapter of Bayonne in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
According to Eugène Goyheneche:Eugène Goyheneche, Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Lower Navarre, Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales et de diffusion, Pau, 1979, BnF FRBNF34647711 "two houses (…) had medieval names of Akarreta and Haranbillaga".
History In the Middle Ages the Compostela pilgrims who chose the passage along the Atlantic coast passed near Ahetze, Ibarron and the hospital (Ospitale Zaharra) in Sare. Others preferred to fork through part of Ahetze to reach the chapel Saint-Jacques of Serres and also visit Vera by passing by Olhette and the Ibardin Pass.Philippe Veyrin, The Basques, Arthaud, 1975, , page 53.
Heraldry
Administration
List of Successive Mayors of AhetzeList of Mayors of France
From To Name Party Position 1957 1971 Élie Charles Philippe Marie d'Elbée 1995 2008 Pierre Cocagne 2008 2011 Jean d'ElbéeAt a council meeting on 21 September 2011, Mayor Jean d'Elbée, in response to a blockage of the decision-making process, called for the resignation of the entire council. After two rounds of municipal elections on 20 and 27 November 2011 Philippe Elissalde was elected mayor Oceanographer & Biologist 2011 2025 Philippe Élissalde DVD School Teacher, Director 2025 2026 Ramuntxo Labat-Aramendy
Inter-Communality Ahetze is a member of 8 Intercommunal organisations: the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque the union of Ouhabia the intercommunal association of secondary schools of Saint-Jean-de-Luz the intercommunal association Nive-Nivelle the mixed association of Bizi Garbia the association to support Basque culture the joint association for drinking water from the Ura the joint sanitation association of the Ura
The commune is a member of the Basque Eurocity Bayonne - San Sebastian.
Population
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aheztars in French.Pyrénées-Atlantiques, habitants.fr
Economy The flea market takes place every third Sunday of the month and regularly attracts lovers of antiques from the Paris region, to the Spanish communes all around and contributes to the economic revitalization of the village which has mainly agricultural activity.
The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.
Culture and heritage
Languages The Map of the Seven Basque Provinces established by Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte in 1863 indicated that the Basque dialect spoken in Ahetze was Labourdin.
Festivals Established in 1971, the Committee of Festivals of Ahetze (Ahetzeko Mozkor Banda) organises the following events: wheat threshing, dance evenings, a gala of Basque rural sports, loto, and employers' festivals that take place between 25 October and 11 November.
Civil heritage The Ostalapia farm, now a restaurant, is a former way station on the road to Saint Jacques de Compostela and long before was a haven for the Guethariars and Bidartars when they were attacked by pirates from the ocean or by robbers. There are some boulders once used for walls in the parking area. Some old Baserri dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which have been extended over time. New construction follows the Labourdin style.
Religious heritage The Church of Saint Martin (16th century) is registered as an historical monument.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The church contains a number of items that are registered as historical objects: A Retable and 7 Paintings (1700)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Processional Cross (15th century).Ministry of Culture, Palissy This cross, whose arms are garnished with bells, was used in witchcraft trials in the year 1609 to the outrage of Councilor LancrePhilippe Veyrin, The Basques, Arthaud, 1975, , page 303. who saw it as an evil object. The carvings on the Cross represent the faces of Christ, the Virgin, Saint John, a pelican, and two women's heads. On the back of the cross there is the representation of a bishop, undoubtedly Saint Martin. A Statue: Virgin of the Assumption (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Statue: Saint Jacques dressed as a pilgrim (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy
Eugène Goyheneche noted that the church quite exceptionally possessed a register of Catholics in Basque.
The Church Picture Gallery
Environmental heritage On the heights of Ahetze all the Basque mountains near the Atlantic are visible: the Rhune, the Mondarrain, the Artzamendi, and the Ursuia in France as well as the Three Crowns in Spain.
Facilities
Sports and sports facilities Ahetze has two Frontons, one is old and built into the wall of the town hall, a second was completed in 2008 as part of the new development of the town.
A Trinquet called Pantxoa Sein is next to the primary school.
A marked fitness trail runs through the south-east of the village.
Education Ahetze has a primary school and a nursery.
Health Ahetze has several health services: a general practitioner, a dentist, a nurse, a physiotherapist, and a speech therapist.
Notable People linked to the commune
, born on 11 November 1916 in Ahetze and died on 22 July 1981 in the same commune, was a Bertsolari (singer of bertso) renowned in French Basque Country. ,Claude Dendaletche, The Basque Archipelago, Éditions Privat - Cahors, 2005, , page 133 born in California and died in 1982, was a North American Anthropologist who, during the 1960s, conducted the first research that highlighted specific Basque haematology with the entire population of the villages of Macaye and Ahetze.The results of these studies were published in 1967 (The Basques Natural History, New York, J. Dausset, L. Legrand, M. H. Levine M. H., J. C. Quilice, M. Colombani, J. Ruffié), 1972 (Genetic Structure and Distribution of HL-A Antigens in a Basque village, in "Histocompatibility Testing", Copenhague, J. Ruffie, M. H. Levine, M. Blanc, P. Richard), 1972 (A New lmmunoglobulin haplotype Gm (-1, -17, 21) in a Kurdish isolate and in a French Basque village, M. H. Levine, J. Ruffie, H. Darrasse) and in 1973 (Basque Isolation: I A Hemaypological Survey of Basque Villages) These studies put in evidence in relation to the surrounding population the high frequency of blood group O and Rh negative and the particularities of distribution of Gm antigens and HL-A.
See also Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
Notes
References
External links
25 photos of Ahetze Ahetze on the 1750 Cassini Map