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Aste-Béon

Coordinates: 43°01′24″N 0°24′42″W / 43.0233°N 0.4117°W / 43.0233; -0.4117
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Aste-Béon
Commune
The Ossau Valley at Aste-Béon
The Ossau Valley at Aste-Béon
Location of Aste-Béon
Map
Aste-Béon is located in France
Aste-Béon
Aste-Béon
Aste-Béon is located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Aste-Béon
Aste-Béon
Coordinates: 43°01′24″N 0°24′42″W / 43.0233°N 0.4117°W / 43.0233; -0.4117
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentPyrénées-Atlantiques
ArrondissementOloron-Sainte-Marie
CantonOloron-Sainte-Marie-2
IntercommunalityCC Vallée d'Ossau
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Michaël Dessein[1]
Area
1
19.05 km2 (7.36 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
228
 • Density12/km2 (31/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
64069 /64260
Elevation438–1,800 m (1,437–5,906 ft)
(avg. 530 m or 1,740 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Aste-Béon (French pronunciation: [ast beɔ̃]; Occitan: Asta e Bion) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Geography

[edit]

Aste-Béon is located in the heart of the Ossau Valley some 33 km south-east of Oloron-Sainte-Marie and 7 km north of Laruns. Access to the commune is by road D240 from Castet in the north passing south down the valley in the west of the commune through the village and continuing to Béost in the south. The D290 connects the village of Béon in the north-east to the D934 road which runs from north to south parallel to the commune's western border. Most of the commune is rugged mountains with substantial forests except for a narrow strip down the western side of the commune in the Ossau Valley where there is farmland.[3]

The Gave d'Ossau forms most of the western border of the commune as it flows north down the Ossau Valley eventually joining the Gave d'Aspe at Oloron-Sainte-Marie. The Lamay river rises in the east of the commune and flows west to join the Gave d'Ossau just south of the village. The Arrigast flows into the Gave d'Ossau from the left bank forming the northern border of the commune on that side of the river.[3]

Places and hamlets

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  • Grange l'Art
  • Aste
  • Béon
  • Boala d'Aste
  • Grange Borie
  • Chiperne
  • La Coumète
  • Le Coutchet
  • Dès (Barns)
  • Le Génébra
  • Grange Lavigne
  • Lourziou
  • Grange Loustalet
  • Grange d'Ourdou
  • Peyraube (Forest)
  • Le Port d'Aste
  • Le Port de Béon[4]
  • Pourteig
  • Grange Salle
  • Le Sarrat
  • Serres
  • Sers

[5]

Neighbouring communes and villages

[edit]

[3]

Toponymy

[edit]
Church in Béon village
House in Béon village

The commune name in béarnais is Asta-Bion.

Michel Grosclaude said that the name Aste comes from the basque aitz/as ("rocky point").[6] He suggested that the name Béon comes from the pre-indo-European oronymic root *ben

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

Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description
Aste Aste 1385 Grosclaude Census Village
Asta 1487 Raymond
16
 Ossau
Béon Beoo 1328 Grosclaude Val de Tena Village
Beoo 1374 Raymond
28
 Luntz
Beoo 1385 Raymond
28
 Census
Beo de la Bag d'Ossau 1427 Raymond
28
 Carresse
Sent Felix de Béon 1654 Raymond
28
 Insinuations
Béon 1750 Cassini Cassini Map
Le Port de Béon Le parsan du Port 1756 Raymond
138
 Denombremont Hamlet

Sources:

  • Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)[4]
  • Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)[6]
  • Ossau: Notaries of Ossau[7]
  • Val de Tena: Treaty of Ossau - Val de Tena
  • Luntz: Contracts of Luntz[8]
  • Carresse: Contracts of Carresse[9]
  • Insinuations: Insinuations of the Diocese of Oloron[10]
  • Denombrement: Denombremont of Aste[11]
  • Cassini Map: Cassini Map from 1750[12]

History

[edit]

In 1385 Aste had 18 fires and depended on the bailiwick of Ossau. In the same year Béon also had 18 fires and belonged to the same bailiwick. The fief of Béon depended on the Viscounts of Béarn.[4]

Administration

[edit]
House in Aste-Béon village

List of Successive Mayors[13]

From To Name Party
1995 2001 Jean Vertut
2001 2014 Augustin Médevielle UMP
2014 2020 Jean-Michel Barrabourg
2020 2026 Michaël Dessein

Inter-communality

[edit]

The commune is part of three inter-communal structures:[14]

  • the Communauté de communes de la Vallée d'Ossau;
  • the SIVU for the construction of the Retirement home in Haut-Ossau;
  • the joint association of Haut-Béarn;

The commune is part of the Pays d'Oloron et du Haut-Béarn.

Demography

[edit]

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Astois et Béonais or Astoises et Béonaises in French.[15]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 473—    
1800 244−9.02%
1806 483+12.05%
1821 323−2.65%
1831 520+4.88%
1836 610+3.24%
1841 564−1.56%
1846 597+1.14%
1851 605+0.27%
1856 604−0.03%
1861 588−0.54%
1866 606+0.60%
1872 465−4.32%
1876 475+0.53%
1881 471−0.17%
1886 482+0.46%
1891 443−1.67%
1896 414−1.34%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 400−0.69%
1906 410+0.50%
1911 371−1.98%
1921 356−0.41%
1926 331−1.45%
1931 344+0.77%
1936 324−1.19%
1946 271−1.77%
1954 275+0.18%
1962 267−0.37%
1968 235−2.11%
1975 196−2.56%
1982 211+1.06%
1990 159−3.48%
1999 231+4.24%
2007 262+1.59%
2012 275+0.97%
2017 237−2.93%
Source: EHESS[16] and INSEE[17]

Economy

[edit]

The economy of the commune has historically been orientated towards agriculture and livestock. The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.

In 1769, Jean-Joseph d'Augerot, Chief Justice of the Parliament of Navarre built a foundry in the Ossau Valley at Béon. The foundry used minerals from old mines located at Aste.

Culture and heritage

[edit]

Civil heritage

[edit]
The Château of Béon
  • The Château of Béon (14th century) was occupied until the 17th century when it was abandoned until the 1980s. It remained the property of the House of Béon for all its history until its slow extinction in the 19th century. It is registered as a historical monument[18] and has been completely restored.

Religious heritage

[edit]

The Church of Saint John the Baptist (19th century) at Aste is registered as a historical monument.[19]

It contains a Chalice (1654) which is registered as a historical object.[20]

Environmental heritage

[edit]

A Natural reserve of nesting vultures was created by a Ministerial Decree of 11 December 1974 and is located across the territories of Aste-Béon, Bielle, Bilhères, and Castet. The museum which is associated with it, called La Falaise aux Vautours,[21] is at the entrance to the village.

The Pène de Béon is 1,251 metres high.[5]

The commune is traversed from north to south by the GR of Pays du tour de la vallée d'Ossau.[5][22]

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 Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 (in French)
  5. ^ a b c 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. ^ Notaries of Ossau in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  8. ^ Contracts retained by Luntz, Notary of Béarn in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  9. ^ Contracts retained by Carresse, Notary of Béarn, Manuscripts from the 15th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  10. ^ Manuscripts from the 17th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  11. ^ Manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  12. ^ Cassini Map 1750 - Asson
  13. ^ List of Mayors of France (in French)
  14. ^ Intercommunality of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Archived May 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Cellule informatique préfecture 64, consulted on 14 May 2012 (in French)
  15. ^ Pyrénées-Atlantiques, habitants.fr
  16. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Aste-Béon, EHESS (in French).
  17. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  18. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA64000053 Château of Béon (in French)
  19. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000527 Church of Saint John the Baptist (in French)
  20. ^ Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000057 Chalice (in French)
  21. ^ La Falaise aux Vautours website (in French)
  22. ^ The GRP on the Community of communes website Archived May 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in French)
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