Ahetze

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, and of the traditional Basque Country|Basque] province of Labourd.

WWW Official Site

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 and Exit 3 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.
Raymond (archivist)|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

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".
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	3	Bayonne
	Aheze	13th century	Raymond	3	Bayonne
	Ahetce	1302	Raymond	3	Chapter
	Ahetze	19th century	Lhande
Amisolako erreka	Amisola	1863	Raymond	5		Stream
Larrustaldéa	Larungoriz	13th century	Raymond	95	Bayonne	Village
Ouhas-Aldéa	Ouhas-Aldéa	1863	Raymond	129		Hamlet

Sources:Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, New Basque ToponymyRaymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. Lhande: Pierre Lhande, Basque-French Dictionary 1926
Origins:Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or Livre d'Or Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of Bayonne
According to Eugène Goyheneche: "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 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.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Ahetze

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1957	1971	Élie Charles Philippe Marie d'Elbée
1995	2008	Pierre Cocagne
2008	2011	Jean d'Elbée		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.

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 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 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 is registered as an historical monument. The church contains a number of items that are registered as historical objects:

* A Retable and 7 Paintings
* A Processional Cross. This cross, whose arms are garnished with bells, was used in witchcraft trials in the year 1609 to the outrage of Councilor Lancre 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
* A Statue: Saint Jacques dressed as a pilgrim

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 renowned in French Basque Country.
, 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. These studies put in evidence in relation to the surrounding population the high frequency of blood group O and Rh [blood group system|Rh] negative and the particularities of distribution of Gm antigens and HL-A.