Saison (river)
The Saison or Uhaitz Handia is a left tributary of the Gave d'Oloron river in the French Basque Country,, Southwest of France. Its general south to north direction provides the axis for the former French province of Soule. It is also known as the Gave de Mauléon. It is long, including its upper courses Zurkaitzegiko erreka and Gave de Larrau.
Geography
The river is formed in Licq-Athérey from the confluence of the Gave de Sainte-Engrâce and the Gave de Larrau.It flows north and joins the Gave d'Oloron in Autevielle-Saint-Martin-Bideren, downstream from Sauveterre-de-Béarn.
Départements and towns
The Saison flows completely within the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. The riverside towns are Tardets-Sorholus and Mauléon-Licharre.Name
The vernacular name Uhaitz handia is based on the common word uhaitz meaning "torrential river" in Euskara. It corresponds to the French word gave. -a is the article and handi means big.The enigmatic gascon name Saison could be a contraction season with the former name Gaison, itself derived from the variant ugaitz of uhaitz.
Tributary names are also linguistically interesting, with two specific stems:
- Aphanize: name of tributaries from Montory and from Haux.
- Aphahura: leading to the following names: Aphaura, Aphuhura.