Espelette

Espelette is a common French, located in the department of the Yrénées-Atlantiques and the area Aquitaine.

Its Basque name Ezpeleta means “buissière” or “abundant place out of boxwood”.

The name of inhabitant is Ezpeletar.

Geography

Situation

Espelette is a commune of the Basque province of the Labourd, near to the Spanish border (10 km) and at half an hour by the road to the Basque Côte.

Access

The commune is served by the road secondary D20, between Cambo-the-Baths and Ainhoa, and circumvented by D249.

Hydrography

The commune is crossed by the brook Latsa (like its affluent, the Zubizabaleta brook and the tributary of this last, Mandopichako erreka) and Urotchéko Erreka (tributary of the Nive).
An affluent of Antzara erreka, the Urloko erreka, also crosses the commune.
Larreko erreka, tributary of the Nivelle is also present on the grounds of the commune, like its affluents, Farendeiko erreka and Erdiko erreka.

Localities and hamlets

Harriague
Xerrenda or Cherrenda

Communes bordering

Ustaritz and Larressore in north
Ainhoa and Souraïde in the west
Itxassou in the east.

Toponymy

The toponym Espelette appears in the forms Spelette and Espelete (respectively 1233 and 1256, cartulaire of Bayonne), Ezpeleta (1384, collection Duchesne volume CX), Ispelette (1465, chapter of Bayonne) and Sanctus Stephanus d' Espelette (1764, collations of the diocese of Bayonne).

History

Paul Raymond note that the baronnie of Espelette depended on the Royaume of Navarre.
In 1790, the canton of Espelette included/understood the communes of Espelette, Larressore and Souraïde and depended on the district of Ustaritz.
In 1794, with most extremely of the Terror, and following the desertion from forty seven young people of Itxassou, the Committee of Public Hello made adopt and off-set in the Landes and the Ger, the totality of the inhabitants (men, women and children) of Ainhoa, Ascain, Espelette, Itxassou, Sare and Souraïde, issued, like the other common close relations of the Spanish border, common infamous .

Heraldic

Administration

Intercommunality

Espelette belongs to eight inter-commune structures:

the Community of communes Errobi
SIVU Artzamendi
Mixed trade-union of the contract of river of Nives
Nive Intercommunity association - Bubble
Trade union for the support for the Basque culture
Trade union AEP Nive - Bubble
autonomous Intercommunity association of cleansing Ur Garbitze
departmental Trade union of electrification.

Demography

Economy

A gypsum quarry remained active until the XIXe century and provided paste to porcelain with a manufacture of Bordeaux (Old man and David Johnston) The common one belongs to the zone AOC of production of the Piment of Espelette.
In addition to an activity strongly turned towards agriculture, an industry of tannery (tannery Rémy Carriat) is present on the commune.

Culture and inheritance

Gastronomy

; Axoa The Axoa of Espelette is a traditional receipt containing calf.

; Pepper of Espelette The pepper of Espelette made the fame of the commune. With the scale of Scoville, it has a value of 4, it is thus not more extremely than the Poivre, on the other hand, it is scented much more because it remained a long time to dry with the sun. It has been used for five centuries in the place of pepper in all the Basque Cuisine.
It is used to raise the dishes like the Piperade, the calf ragout (Axoa), the Basquaise chicken, ham and the pâtés.
One also markets it in the form of mashed potatoes, out of preserve, in olive oil, in vinegar, into cold where it raises toasts of foie gras and contributes to the basic development of sauces.
There exists a number of the derivative products manufactured with pepper of Espelette of which salt, pies, foie gras, chocolate, mustard, ketchup and wine.

Civil inheritance

The old castle of the Barons d' Ezpeletta belongs to the commune since 1694 with died of the last baroness, Doña Juliana Henriquez (baroness of Espelette and viscountess of the Valley of Erro). The borough developed with its feet

Religious heritage

The Saint-Etienne church, with the variation of the borough, has a bell-tower keep containing of the wood galleries and the entirely painted ceilings dating from the 17th century. It conceals a table (holy representative Jerome hearing the trumpets of the last judgment), a lectern of the XVIIIe century, a pulpit to preach XVIIe century, a retable of the XVIIIe century and a whole of furniture inventoried by the ministry for the Culture.

The cemetery contains a tomb style Arts déco realized for Agnès Souret, the first Miss France (1920), living of Espelette and born with Biarritz in 1902.

Environmental inheritance

Espelette received the title of vain Village of France in 1922 and that of Prestige of France in 1955.

Espelette is famous for its cultures of Piment, whose local variety inherited the name of the commune: Pepper of Espelette. Thus, in many coffees and restaurants of the city, bunches of peppers are put to dry with the ceiling, occupying all space available sometimes. As from September, the village becomes picturesque with pepper garlands on the frontages and balconies of the houses.

The village is also considered by the breeding of the Pottok A. a fair for this small horse is organized last Tuesday and Wednesdays of January.

; Excursions A great number of circuits were marked out on average mountain. They make it possible for example to join Itxassou or to climb Mondarrain (750 m), which is characterized by a symmetrical silhouette, crowned of a cliff, and vestiges of fortification. The rock face of Mondarrain made up of a sandy rock is worth a good reputation near the to him rock climbers of the area. Its name comes from the Basque arrano mendi (the mountain of the eagles).

Equipment

; teaching The commune has two public schools, the Basseboure elementary school and the elementary school of the Borough as well as private school under contract.

Personalities related to the commune

Armand David, born in 1826 in Espelette and deceased in 1900 with Paris, is a missionary Lazariste, Zoologiste and Botaniste French;
Roger Etchegaray, born in 1922 in Espelette is a cardinal, highly skilled Archevêque of Marseilles. It inaugurated the stele of WWF in homage to the father Armand David;

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