| Aincille | |
| Native Name: | Aintzilla |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Image Coat Of Arms: | Blason ville fr Aincille (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).svg |
| Arrondissement: | Bayonne |
| Canton: | Montagne Basque |
| Insee: | 64011 |
| Postal Code: | 64220 |
| Mayor: | Gilbert Oçafrain[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Intercommunality: | Pays Basque |
| Coordinates: | 43.1455°N -1.1938°W |
| Elevation M: | 240 |
| Elevation Min M: | 198 |
| Elevation Max M: | 755 |
| Area Km2: | 6.26 |
Aincille (in French pronounced as /ɛ̃sil/;[2] Basque: Aintzilla)[3] is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.
The town is part of Cize Country in the former Basque province of Lower Navarre.
It is located some 50 km south-east of Bayonne and 5 km southeast of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
The commune can be accessed by the D401 road from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the northwest to the village. From the village the D118 road goes north to join the D18 highway.[4]
Located in the drainage basin of the Adour, the northeastern border of the commune is marked by the Laurhibar river, which flows north to join the Nive north of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. A stream rises near the village and flows to the Laurhibar in the north-east. The Urtchipea rises in the south of the commune and flows northwest gathering many tributaries and joins the Nive de Beherobie at Saint-Michel. The Sassitako erreka rises southwest of the village and flows northwest joining the Laurhibar east of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
The commune name in basque is Aintzila meaning "hill of mud",[5] Aintzila or Aintzil-Harrieta.[6]
Jean-Baptiste Orpustan wrote the name of the commune in the form Aïncille. He also indicated that in Basque the inhabitants are referred to as Aintzildar.
The following table details the origins of the commune name.
| Name | Spelling | Date | Source | Page | Origin | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aincille | Aincibiu | 1264 | Mérimée | Village | |||
| Aincibiu | 1309 | Orpustan | |||||
| Ancivil | 1291 | Orpustan | |||||
| Ancivil | 1292 | Mérimée | |||||
| Ancil | 1304 | Mérimée | |||||
| Ancil | 1344 | Orpustan | |||||
| Ançill | 1307 | Mérimée | |||||
| Ançill | 1307 | Orpustan | |||||
| Ancibiu | 1350 | Mérimée | |||||
| Ancibiu | 1350 | Orpustan | |||||
| Aincile | 18th century | Raymond | Intendance | ||||
| Ancille | 1801 | Cassini |
Sources:
Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. [8]
Origins:
Part of Aincille territory next to the communes of Ahaxe-Alciette-Bascassan, Bustince-Iriberry, Çaro, Lecumberry, Mendive, Saint-Jean-le-Vieux, and Saint-Michel, was taken on 11 June 1842 to form of the commune of Estérençuby.[10]
List of Successive Mayors of Aincille[11]
| From | To | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2008 | Jean Françaistéguy | |
| 2008 | 2026 | Gilbert Oçafrain |
The commune belongs to six intercommunal structures:
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aintzildars.[12]
The town is part of the production area of Irouléguy AOC and the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.
Economic activity is mainly agricultural. Aincille had long received saline (saline of Ugarré) since the 17th century and had the distinction of being a corporation with ownership of twenty-nine old houses of the town[13] and was reunited with the royal domain in 1683.
According to the Map of the Seven Basque Provinces published in 1863 by Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, the dialect of Basque spoken in Aincille is Eastern Low Navarrese.
The commune has several sites that are registered as historical monuments:
The commune has several religious sites that are registered as historical monuments: