| Arthez-d'Asson | |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Arrondissement: | Pau |
| Canton: | Ouzom, Gave et Rives du Neez |
| Insee: | 64058 |
| Postal Code: | 64800 |
| Mayor: | Jean-Jacques Laffitte[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Intercommunality: | CC Pays Nay |
| Coordinates: | 43.0908°N -0.2508°W |
| Elevation M: | 568 |
| Elevation Min M: | 329 |
| Elevation Max M: | 494 |
| Area Km2: | 7.32 |
Arthez-d'Asson (in French pronounced as /aʁtɛz dasɔ̃/, literally Arthez of Asson; Occitan (post 1500);: Artés d'Asson) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
Arthez-d'Asson is in the Ouzom Valley some 30 km south by south-east of Pau and 35 km east by south-east of Oloron-Sainte-Marie. The commune is almost entirely surrounded by the commune of Asson. Access to the commune is by road D126 which comes from Asson in the north passing through the commune and the village, continuing south up the Valley to Ferrières. The commune is almost entirely farmland although with patches of forest particularly along the river.[2]
The Ouzom River flows through the length of the commune from south to north gathering some tributaries on the right bank, such as the Cau du Hau, the Cau du Gat, the Arriou Sec, and the Cau de la Heche, and continuing north to join the Gave de Pau near Coarraze.The Ruisseau de Thouet forms the north-western border of the commune as it flows north-east to join the Ouzom.[2]
The commune name in béarnais is Artés d'Asson. Michel Grosclaude indicated that the name Arthez possibly came from the mediterranean radical arte ("green oak" then "undergrowth"), with the collective basque suffix -etz. He proposed it in the sense of "Vegetation of the undergrowth".[4]
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
| Name | Spelling | Date | Source | Page | Origin | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asson | Assoo | 11th century | Raymond | Saint-Pé | Village | ||
| Assonium | 1100 | Raymond | Titles of Mifaget | ||||
| Villa quœe vocatur Asso | 12th century | Raymond | |||||
| Assun | 13th century | Raymond | |||||
| La vegarie d'Asson | 1450 | Raymond | Cour Major | ||||
| Saint Paul d'Asson | 1750 | Cassini | |||||
| Saint-Martin d'Asson | 1790 | Raymond | |||||
| Balirot | Balirot | 1863 | Raymond | Hamlet | |||
| Le Bourdalat | Le Bourdalat | 1863 | Raymond | Hamlet | |||
| Garrenot | Garrenot | 1863 | Raymond | Hamlet |
Sources:
Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. [5]
Origins:
Paul Raymond noted on page 14 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune was formed in 1749 by the union of the hamlets of Arthez-deçà and Arthez-delà from the commune of Asson.[5]
List of Successive Mayors[10]
| From | To | Name | Party | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1802 | Charles d'Angosse | Chamberlain of the Emperor | |||
| 1983 | 1989 | Georges Nabarra | |||
| 1995 | 2008 | Michel Dourau | |||
| 2008 | 2026 | Jean-Jacques Laffitte |
The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arthéziens or Arthéziennes in French.[11]
The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.
The béarnais singing group from Arthez-d'Asson Los de l'Ouzom was created during the 1980s.
The Church of Saint-Paul (1906) is registered as a historical monument.[12]
Arthez-d'Asson has a primary school.