Abos, Pyrénées Atlantiques

Location

Abos is located 15 km north-west of Pau and 20 km southeast of Lescar, on the left bank of the Gave de Pau which is the north east boundary of the commune. Highway D2 (Route de Pau) passes through the commune; however, this route bypasses the village and Route D2002 must be taken to enter the village. The southeastern boundary of the commune is formed by Highway D229 (Chateau d'Abos).

Hydrography

The commune is located in the Drainage basin of the Adour, with the Gave de Pau in the northeast and a number of streams in the commune feed into the La Baise river (and its tributary, the old channel of the mill, itself fed by the Arrious Brook) and Juscle.

Localities and hamlets

Toponymy

The name Abos is mentioned in 1116 and 1234 (Pierre de Marca) and in the 13th century (Fors de Béarn).

It also appears in the forms:

Michel Grosclaude proposed a Latin etymology of Avus with the aquitaine suffix -ossum.

The commune name in Béarnais is Abòs (according to the conventional standard of Occitan).

Aubrun was a farm in Abos which was mentioned in 1538 as La boyrie aperade d'Aubrun, Reformation of Béarn B. 637 in the 1863 dictionary.

Cap de Castel is a hamlet in Abos mentioned by the dictionary in 1863.

Paul Raymond said in 1863 that the Chateau of Abos or Castet-d'Abos, was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn.

Donadon was a fief under the Viscounts of Béarn, mentioned in 1538 (reformation of Béarn).

The fief of Idernes was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn and appeared in the forms:

Maucor was a fief of Abos, cited with the spelling of L'ostau de Maucoo in 1385 in the Census of Béarn. This fief was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn then restored to the Bailiwick of Lagor and Pardies as was Saint Jean, another fief of Abos, also mentioned in 1385 (Census of Béarn) in the form of L'ostau de Sent-Johan d'Abos.

Saint-Laurent, a hamlet and fief of Abos under the Viscounts of Béarn, was also restored to the Bailiwick of Lagor and Pardies. It was mentioned in the forms Sent-Laurentz d'Abos (1343, Notaries of Pardies) and Saint-Laurens d'Abos (1674, Reformation of Béarn ).

History

Paul Raymond noted that the commune had a Lay Abbey a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn and in 1385, Abos depended on the bailiwick of Lagos and Pardies with 49 fires.

The Lord of Abos was of the first rank after the Barons (called ruffebaron) of Béarn.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Abos

(Not all data is known)

Inter-communality

The town is a member of nine inter-communal organisations:

Twinning

Argentat has twinning associations with:

Demographics

In 2010, the commune had 487 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1831. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.

Economy

The commune is part of the Jurançon AOC and Béarn AOC vineyard regions. Activity in the commune is mainly agricultural (livestock and corn).

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

The 2006 classification of INSEE, indicated the median household incomes for each municipality with more than 50 households (30,687 communes out of the total 36,681 communes identified) ranked Abos at 7513, for an income of €18,000 per person.

Religious Heritage

The Church of Saint John the Baptist dates to the 19th century.

Facilities

The town has a primary school.

Notable people linked to the commune