Baigts de Béarn

Geography

Baigts-de-Béarn is located some 6 km north-west of Orthez and 23 km east of Peyrehorade. The western part of the northern border of the commune is also the departmental border between Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes. Access to the commune is by road D817 from Puyoô in the west which passes through the south of the commune and the village and continues south-east to Orthez. The D415 (the old Route Imperiale) branches from the D817 west of the commune and passes through the village before continuing east to Orthez. The D315 goes north from the village then east to Saint-Boès. The D915 goes north from the D315 to Saint-Girons-en-Béarn. The A64 autoroute passes through the southern tip of the commune but there is no exit with the nearest exit being Exit  7  some 3 km west of the commune. The commune is mostly farmland with scattered forests.

The Gave de Pau forms the southern border of the commune as it flows west to join the Gave d'Oloron at Peyrehorade. Numerous streams rise in the commune and flow south to join the Gave de Pau including the Ruisseau de Montlong. The Ruisseau de Lataillade forms the northern border of the commune as it flows west and forms part of the departmental border with Landes before joining the Gave de Pau west of Puyoô. The Arriou de Bardj rises in the north of the commune and flows west then south to join the Gave de Pau east of Ramous.

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is Vaths de Bearn.

The name Baigts means "valley" in Gascon but, according to Michel Grosclaude that meaning is to be avoided. According to him Baigts comes from the Gascon vaths which is derived from vallis meaning "hollow" or "depression" or from vallum meaning "palisade" or "entrenchment". In the old village there is a Rue de l'Embarrat meaning "fortified redoubt".

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

Sources:

Origins:

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 19 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune depended on the Diocese of Dax and was the capital of the Notary of Rivière-Gave, the name of an arch-priesthood of the diocese of Dax which gave its name to the Gave de Pau. In 1385 the commune had 59 fires.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

(Not all data is known)

Inter-communality

The commune is part of three inter-communal structures:

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 811 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.

Economy

In addition to an economy focused on agriculture (livestock and corn), the commune has a hydroelectric plant.

The commune is part of the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Béarn.

Civil heritage

Religious heritage

Facilities

The commune has a primary school.