Abitain

Abitain
Abitain
Location within Aquitaine region Abitain
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Sauveterre-de-Béarn
Intercommunality	Sauveterre-de-Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Marc Seguin
Area1	6.59 km2 (2.54 sq mi)
Population (2009)2	111
• Density	17/km2 (44/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	64004 / 64390
Elevation	28–136 m (92–446 ft) (avg. 62 m or 203 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Abitain is a French commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern France.

The inhabitants are known as Abitainois, or Abitaonoises.

Geography

A House in Abitain

Location

Abitain is bordered on the eastern side by the Gave d'Oloron about 20 km southeast of Peyrehorade and 11 km southwest of Salies-de-Béarn. Access to the commune is by road D936 from Escos in the north, passing south down the eastern side of the commune through the village and continuing to Autevielle-Saint-Martin-Bideren in the south.

Hydrography

Located in the Drainage basin of the Adour, the commune's eastern border is the Gave d'Oloron, which joins the Gave de Pau at Peyrehorade which flows a further 10 km as the Gaves Réunis before joining the Adour river. A number of small streams flow in the commune including Le Crabé which flows into the Gave d'Oloron at the northern border of the commune and the Arrioutèque creek.

Localities and hamlets

• Aunès
• Benes
• Le Bois
• Bonnefont
• la Bordenave
• Constantine
• Coustalat
• Couyoula
• Dupont
• Etchebarne
• Labie
• Lafite
• Lartigue
• Latéoulère
• le Lot
• Peyre
• Plain
• Pouey
• Reyen
• Richard
• Ségabache
• Treyture
• La Tuilerie

Toponymy

The commune's name in Béarnais is Avitenh.

Michel Grosclaude proposed a Latin etymology of Avitus (name of a man called "Avit") plus the Gascon suffix -enh.

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Abitain	Bitengs	13th century	Raymond	2	Bayonne	Village
	Bitenh	1385	Raymond	2	Census
	Abithen	1439	Raymond	2	Notaries
	Sent-Pee d'Abitehn	1472	Raymond	2	Notaries
	Havitenh	1538	Raymond	2	Reformation
	Avitenh	1546	Raymond	2	Reformation
	Aviteing	1608	Raymond	2	Insinuations
	Avitein	1786	Raymond	2	Regulations
	Abitain	1750	Cassini
Aunès	l'ostau d'Ones	1385	Raymond	17	Census	Farm and Fief, Barony created in March 1775, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn
	La maison noble de Donez	1666	Raymond	17	Reformation
	Omeix	1666	Raymond	17	Denombrement
	Aunez	1863	Raymond	17
Bonnefont	Bonehont	1385	Raymond	33	Census	Fief, dependent on the Marquisate of Gassion
	Bonafont	1538	Raymond	33	Reformation
Lafite	L'ostau de Lafite d'Abitenh	1538	Raymond	89	Reformation	Fief, dependent on the Viscounts of Béarn
Parlabriu	L'ostau de Part-l'Arriu d'Abitenh	1385	Raymond	132	Census	Farm and Fief, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn and subject to the bailiwick of Sauveterre
	Partarriu	1546	Raymond	132	Reformation
	Pallarriu	1778	Raymond	132	Terrier
La Peyre	La Peyre	1863	Raymond	134	Census	Place
Pouey	Poey	1755	Raymond	136	Denombrement	Fief, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn
	Poey	1863	Raymond	136
La Tuilerie	La Teulere	1537	Raymond	169	Chapter	Fief
	La Tuilerie	1863	Raymond	169

Sources:

• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (French)
• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (French)
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750

Origins:

• Bayonne: Cartulary of Bayonne or Livre d'Or (Book of Gold)
• Census: Census of Béarn
• Notaries: Notaries of Labastide-Villefranche
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn
• Insinuations: Insinuations of the Diocese of Oloron
• Regulations: Regulations of the States of Béarn (French)
• Denombrement: Denombremont
• Terrier: Terrier of Abitain.
• Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of Bayonne

History

The village of Abitain formed on the left bank of the Gave d'Oloron around its Lay Abbey, vassal of the Viscounts of Bearn, a building which still remains. The families of Belloc then Claverie were the abbot patrons of the parish. The tomb of the last lay abbot of Abitain, who died in 1785, is in the church of Saint-Pierre.

Paul Raymond, on page 2 of his 1863 dictionary, noted that in 1385 the town had 15 fires and depended on the bailiwick of Sauveterre.

In 1648 the barony of Lons became a marquisate, which included Abitain, Anoye, Baleix, Castillon, Juillacq, Le Leu (hamlet Oraàs), Samsons-Lion, Lons, Maspie, Oraàs, Peyrède (fief Oraàs), Sauvagnon, and Viellepinte.

The village had two mills: one at Leü (which actually depended on Oraàs) and one at Séguabache - now a sawmill.

In 1856, Ferdinand Carrère, heir to the last Lay Abbey demolished the old abbey castle to build Carrère castle in Escos.

In February 1814, the town was occupied by the troops of General Morillo and by the English, facing the French entrenched in Oraàs.

A famous ferry - where there was a tragic accident in 1845 - has long been in service between Moliède and Athos.

Administration

The Town Hall

List of Successive Mayors of Abitain

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1935	1940	Pierre de Chevigné
1945	1965	Pierre de Chevigné	MRP
1995	2001	Denise Saint-Pé	UDF
2001	2008	Victor Masero	DVD
2008	2014	Didier Lasserre
2014	2020	Marc Seguin

(Not all data is known)

Intercommunality

The town is a member of seven inter-communal organisations:

• the community of communes of Sauveterre-de-Béarn
• the Public agency for local management
• the inter-communal centre for social action of Sauveterre-de-Béarn;
• the intercommunal union of communal associations of Gave d'Oloron and Mauléon-Licharre
• the inter-communal union for Rivers and Lakes
• the AEP Union of Sauveterre-de-Béarn
• the Energy Union of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 101 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
315	312	332	344	355	383	336	325	300

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
290	280	300	307	305	337	323	304	301

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
296	285	292	262	252	253	264	230	202

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2007	2008
172	158	143	138	126	107	102	102	101

2009	2010	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
101	101	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Abitain War Memorial

Population of Abitain

Economy

The activity of the commune is mainly agricultural. A sawmill is also in operation.

The town is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone designation of Ossau-iraty.

Culture and Heritage

Civil heritage

There are only the ruins of the Leu mill which have been the subject of numerous lawsuits. Another mill, called Séguabache, is the current sawmill and is easily visible in the commune.

Religious Heritage

The Church of Saint Pierre

During the construction of the clock tower in 1926 what remained of the old lay abbey was destroyed. In the old abbey there was a special room where the Lord of the Manor could overlook the church choir and follow the Mass without being in the crowd. The abbey enclosure can still be seen.

The Tombstone of the last lord of Abitain was discovered during the restoration of the church. It was marked on the wall of the church to preserve its memory.

The Parish Church of Saint Pierre (19th century), of Romanesque origin, still has the arms of the Abitain abbots (Blason: Azure, with two stars Or in chief) from the burial of the last abbot. There is a 16th-century window of Germanic origin. Also in the church (in the attic) is an altarpiece from the 17th century.

The Cemetery contains the graves of priests and that of Father Joffre, Capuchin missionary in Canada who died at Abitain in 1909. There is also the tomb of Colonel Count Pierre de Chevigne, Companion of the Liberation, one of the greats of béarnaise politics and a strong and faithful supporter of General de Gaulle. The coat of arms of Chevigne are engraved on his tomb with the motto "Quod decet". He donated land and equipment to the communes of Abitain and Escos.

Notable People linked to the Commune

• Pierre de Chevigné, born in Toulon in 1909 and died in Biarritz in 2004 was a colonel and French politician, a Minister in the Fourth Republic and a companion of the Liberation. He was mayor of Abitain from 1935 to 1940 and from 1945 to 1965.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department