Ascain


Ascain is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.

Geography

Ascain is part of the urban area of Bayonne in the traditional Basque province of Labourd 13 km east of Irun and south of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Atlantic Ocean in the western foothills of the Pyrenees. The southern tip of the commune touches the border with Spain at the peak of Larrun mountain. Access to the commune is by the D4 road from Urrugne in the north-west coming into the commune from the west then passing through the town and continuing south-east to Sare. The D918 also comes from Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the north and passes through the north of the commune between two urban areas and continuing east to Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle. Some 30% of the commune is residential with some small forests in the north and farmland mostly in the south with some farms in the north.
The summit of Larrun, a mountain iconic of the Basque country, is situated approximately south of the town at the southern tip of the commune on the border with Spain. The summit can be reached by the Petit train de la Rhune, which commences from the Col de Saint-Ignace, to the east of the town outside the commune on the D4 road to Sare.
The Interurban Network of Pyrénées-Atlantiques bus line has two stops in the commune: one for Route 863 which runs from Hasparren to Saint-Jean-de-Luz; and Route 858 between Sare and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
The Nivelle river flows through the north of the commune flowing towards the west parallel to the D918 on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. Several tributaries rise in the south of the commune and flow north, gathering many more tributaries, into the Nivelle. These streams include the Aniberreko Erreka, the Galardiko Erreka, and the Arraioko Erreka. The Larrunko Erreka forms the south-western border of the commune as it flows north then west to join the Intsolako Erreka which continues north to join the Aniberreko Erreka.

Places and hamlets

  • Aïra-Harri
  • Aldagarai
  • Ansorlua
  • Apituxenborda
  • Arginenia
  • Arraioa
  • Askubea
  • Biscarzoun or Bizkarzun
  • Bordatxoenia
  • Dorria
  • Errotenea
  • Esnaur
  • Etxegaraia
  • Hiriburua
  • Ihizelaia
  • Indartea
  • Jauregikoborda
  • Kisu Labea
  • Lanzelai
  • Larrunzola
  • Lur Eder
  • Manttobaita
  • Martinhaurrenborda
  • Miramar
  • Monségur
  • Morzelai
  • Muga
  • Nausienborda
  • Oihanetxeberria
  • Paxkulinenea
  • Portua
  • Urritzagakoborda
  • Sabadinenborda
  • Sainte-Hélène
  • Serres
  • Telleriaberria
  • Xakarroko Errota
  • Xeruenborda
  • Xorroetaberria
  • Xuanenborda
  • Zelaia
  • Zelaiakoborda

    Toponymy

The commune name in basque is Azkaine.
The name Ascain probably comes from haitz gain meaning "top of the hill" or "rocky height".
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
NameSpellingDateSourcePageOriginDescription
AscainEscan1125Goyheneche583Village
Escan1140Raymond14Bayonne
Scain1235Raymond14Bayonne
Azcayn1302Raymond14Chapter
Scainh1450Raymond14Labourd
Ascaing1552Raymond14Labourd
Sancta Maria d'Ascaing1691Raymond14Collations
Askaine19th centuryLhande
HaraniaHarania1863Raymond75Hamlet
OlhaberriettaOlhaberrietta1568Orpustan37House: "Place of the new hut"
SerresVilla quœ dicitur Asseres1140Raymond160Bayonne
Sanctus-Jacobus de Serres1691Raymond160Collations
Croix d'UrumendyCroix d'Urumendy1863Raymond172Place of Pilgrimage
XeruenbordaChérumborda1863Raymond49Place of Pilgrimage

Sources:
  • Goyheneche: Eugène Goyheneche, Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Basse-Navarre
  • Raymond: , 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table.
  • Lhande: Basque-French Dictionary by Pierre Lhande.
  • Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
Origins:
  • Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or Livre d'Or
  • Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of Bayonne
  • Labourd: Titles of Labourd
  • Collations: Collations of the Diocese of Bayonne

    History

In 1609 Councillor Pierre de Lancre intervened in French Basque Country at the head of a commission of inquiry demanded by Henri IV. The commission was to "purge the country of all sorcerers and sorceresses under the influence of demons". The priest of Ascain was degraded then burned.
The Bishop of Bayonne, Jean VI de Sossiondo, built a large house called "Askunda" here during the middle of the 16th century, which can still be seen.
In 1794, at the height of The Terror and after the desertion of 47 young people from Itxassou, the Committee of Public Safety arrested and deported some of the men, women, and children from Ainhoa, Ascain, Espelette, Itxassou, Sare, and Souraïde; and declared the commune, as for other communes near the Spanish border, a "Notorious commune". This measure was also extended to Biriatou, Cambo, Larressore, Louhossoa, Mendionde, and Macaye.
The inhabitants were: "gathered in various national houses or in the District of Ustaritz or in those of the Grande Redoubt, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau". In reality they were gathered in the churches then deported in very precarious conditions to Bayonne, Capbreton, Saint-Vincent-de-Tyrosse, and Ondres. Departments where people from the communes were interned were Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Basses-Pyrénées, and Hautes-Pyrénées.
The return of the exiles and the recovery of their properties were determined by a series of decrees issued on 29 September and 1 October 1794 - driven in this direction by the Director of Ustaritz: "The former communes of Sare, Itxassou, Ascain, Biriatou, and Serres, whose inhabitants have been interned for eight months as a measure of general security people have not been able to farm. The people who wish to obtain freedom to retire to their homes are clamouring for food without us being able to provide them with the means to fulfil this first human need, hunger". The recovery of property was not done without difficulty: their properties had been sequestered but were not registered and so were looted: "Movable and immovable property of the inhabitants of Sare, were neither legally recognized nor disclosed; all our furniture and household effects were removed and brought confusedly to neighbouring communes. Instead of putting them in safe places, some were sold at auction or to any other party without auction".

Heraldry

These arms were registered for the first time on 5 July 1405 by Juan Martinez de Agorreta y Ascain, Lord of Agorreta and Ascain, who married Princess Leonor Tocco de Acciaioli, from the Florence House of Acciaioli.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors
FromToName
18081813Michel Monségur
18131814Pierre Theillary
18141828Michel Monségur
18281837Jean Pagès
18371844Jean Gracy
18441848Raymond Monségur
18481856Dominique Hirigoyen
18561864Gustave Hillaire Argelliès
18641867Raymond Monségur
18671877Dominique Hirigoyen
18771883Jean called "Ganich" Gracy
18831891Jean Etcheverry
18911900Jean Larralde
19001904Dominique Berho
19041906René Minier
19061912Jean Gracy
19121919Jean Leholaberry
19191924René Minier
19241941Pierre Pinatel

;Mayors from 1941
FromToNameParty
19411945Jean-Baptiste Gracy
19451946Charles Minier
19461953Jean Baptiste Aspirot
19531963Jean Baptiste Gracy
19631971Robert Minier
19711977Jean Sauvé
19772001André LuberriagaDVD
20012014Jean-Louis LaducheDVD
20142026Jean-Louis Fournier