Arricau-Bordes

Arricau-Bordes is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Geography

Arricau-Bordes is located some 12 km north-west of Maubourguet and some 40 km north-east of Pau. Access to the commune is by the D13 road from Cadillon in the north passing through the heart of the commune and through the village then continuing south to Lembeye. The D298 from Aurions-Idernes forms the entire eastern border of the commune as it goes south to join the D13 north of Lembaye. The D228 comes from Séméacq-Blachon in the east and passes through the south of the commune west to Gayon. About 60% of the commune is forested mostly in a north–south belt through the centre with the rest of the commune farmland.
The Lisau river flows through the heart of the commune from the Lac de Castillon just over the southern border to the Lac de Cadillon just over the northern border of the commune.

Places and Hamlets

Arricau
Les Balances
Barbé
Bordes
Le Calvaire
Carboué
Castagnat
Cazenave
Cerisère
Domengé
Hauzoué
Lahitole
Laramoune
Lecher
Marchand
Mereït
Pédéjouan
Péhat
La Riberette
Séglères
Tisné
Val Pré

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is Arricau-Bordas.
According to Michel Grosclaude the name Arricau was formed from two Gascon terms: arric, meaning "ravine" or "Thalweg", and cau, meaning "sunken".
Bordes comes from the Occitan borda meaning "house" or "Farm".
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Arricau	Arricau	12th century	Raymond	12	Marca	Village
	Arricau	1385	Raymond	12	Census
	Ricau	14th century	Raymond	12	Census
	Arricau-Viele	1538	Raymond	12	Reformation

Bordes	Bordas	11th century	Raymond	33	Lescar	Village
	Bordes en Vic-Bilh	1673	Raymond	33	Reformation

Domengé	L'ostau de Domenger	1385	Raymond	56	Census	Farm

Lahitole	La Fitola	1538	Raymond	89	Reformation	Hamlet
	Lahitolle	1673	Raymond	89	Reformation
	Lafitole	1863	Raymond	89
	La Fitole	1863	Raymond	89

Nouguès	Noguer	1385	Raymond	123	Census	Farm

Saint-Martin	Saint-Martin	1863	Raymond	150		Hamlet

Sources:

Raymond:, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table.

Origins:

Marca: Pierre de Marca, History of Béarn.
Census: Census of Béarn
Reformation: Reformation of Béarn
Lescar: Cartulary of Lescar

History

Paul Raymond noted that, in 1385, Arricau and Bordes depended on the bailiwick of Lembeye and had respectively 18 and 12 fires. Arricau then had two parishes: Saint-Martin and Saint-Jacques. The fief of Bordes depended on the Viscounts of Béarn.
Arricau and Bordes were merged between 1861 and 1866.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name
1995	2008	Jean-Paul Cassou
2008	2014	Frédéric Cerisère
2014	2026	Marie-Odile Rigaud

Inter-communality

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:

the Communauté de communes du Nord-Est Béarn;
the AEP association of Pays de Lembeye;
the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
the irrigation association of the Lees valley;

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 108 inhabitants. The population data given in the table and graph below for 1861 and earlier refer to the former commune of Arricau.

Economy

The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée zones of Madiran, Pacherenc-du-vic-bilh, and Béarn.

Culture and Heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has many sites that are registered as historical monuments:

The Chateau of Arricau The Chateau contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
*An Iron Host
*A Stoup
*An Hilarri
The Chateau of Bordes at Bordes
A House at Lahitole
Houses and Farms Of the 40 buildings studied, 27 dated from before 1871.

Religious heritage

The commune has two churches that are registered as historical monuments:

The Parish Church of Saint-Jacques at Arricau was mentioned in 1570 but was destroyed two centuries later.
The Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist at Bordes The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
*Chasuble
*2 Processional Lanterns
*A Processional Cross
*A Celebrant's Chair
*An Altar, Altar step, and Tabernacle