Bassussarry
Bassussarry is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Basusartars.
Geography
Bassussary is located in the former province of Labourd and within the urban area of Bayonne some 5 km south-east of Biarritz and 4 km south by south-west of Bayonne. Access to the commune is by the D932 road from Anglet in the north which passes through the commune on the eastern side and continues south to Ustaritz. The town is in the west of the commune and can be accessed by the D254 road which branches from the D932 on the northern border of the commune and continues through the town west to join the D810 south-west of Biarritz – [Anglet – Bayonne Airport|Biarritz Airport]. The D3 comes from the A63 autoroute Exit to the town then south forming the western border of the commune and continuing to Arcangues. South-east of the town is another urban area of Betbeder. Much of the commune is urbanised with some areas of forest and meadows. The eastern part next to the D932 contains an industrial estate.Two bus services pass through and have stops in the commune operated by Transports 64:
- Service 860 Bayonne to Cambo-les-Bains
- Service 880 Bayonne to Arbonne
Places and Hamlets
- Axerimendi
- Behikenea
- Betbeder
- Borda Nasa
- Bordaberria
- Castanche
- Dorriotz
- Harrieta
- Juanita
- Juantipi
- Larrebure
- Lataste
- Luberri
- Martinaskoenea
- Moussans
- Oihenart
- Peillé
- Penen
- Portukoborda
- Urdains
- la Vigne
- Xemeto
Toponymy
The commune name in Basque is Basusarri. Jean-Baptiste Orpustan proposed a structure of baso meaning "forest" and sarri meaning "dense" or "tight" giving the overall meaning of "dense forest".The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
| Name | Spelling | Date | Source | Page | Origin | Description |
| Bassussarry | Bila-nave quœ vocatur Bassessarri | 1150 | Raymond | 23 | Bayonne | Village |
| bila nave que nunc dicitur bassessarri | 1170 | Orpustan | 30 | |||
| Bassessarri | 1186 | Raymond | 23 | Bayonne | ||
| Bacessari | 1256 | Raymond | 23 | Bayonne | ||
| Bassissari | 13th century | Raymond | 23 | Bayonne | ||
| Bassissarri | 1265 | Orpustan | 30 | |||
| Sanctus Bartholomeus de Bassussary | 1768 | Raymond | 23 | Collations | ||
| Bassussarits | 1771 | Raymond | 23 | Collations | ||
| Bassussary | 1801 | Raymond | Bulletin des Lois | |||
| Bassussarri | 1926 | Lhande | ||||
| Urdains | Urdaidz | 1255 | Raymond | 171 | Bayonne | Chateau |
| Urdainz | 1402 | Raymond | 171 | Navarre | ||
| Ourdains | 1739 | Raymond | 171 | Register |
Sources:
- Raymond: , 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table.
- Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan,
- Ldh/EHESS/Cassini:
- Lhande: Pierre Lhande, Basque-French Dictionary, 1926
- Register: Church Register of Bayonne
- Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or Livre d'Or
- Collations: Collations of the Diocese of Bayonne
- Navarre: Titles of the Kingdom of Navarre
History
During the Peninsular War on 10 December 1813 Bassussarry was the scene of a battle between General Suchet and the Spanish-English.Administration
List of Successive Mayors| From | To | Name |
| 1820 | Pierre Michel Larre | |
| 1850 | Charles Larre | |
| 1995 | 2020 | Paul Baudry |
| 2020 | 2026 | Michel Lahorgue |
Intercommunality
Bassussarry is one of nine inter-communal structures:- the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque;
- the SIVOM of Arbonne-Arcangues-Bassussarry;
- the energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
- the inter-communal association for the management of the Txakurrak centre;
- the inter-communal association to support Basque culture;
- the joint association for the management of drinking water Ura;
- the joint association for collective and non-collective sanitation Ura
- the joint association of maritime Nive;
- the joint association of the drainage basin of the Nive.
The commune is part of the Bayonne-San Sebastián Eurocity.