Aydius

Aydius
Commune
A general view of Aydius
Location of Aydius
Aydius Aydius
Coordinates:43°00′07″N0°32′24″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Oloron-Sainte-Marie-1
Intercommunality	Haut Béarn
Government
• Mayor(2020–2026)	Bernard Choy
Area 1	34.72 km2(13.41 sq mi)
Population (2021)	104
• Density	3.0/km2(7.8/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64085/64490
Elevation	551–2,173 m (1,808–7,129 ft)
1French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2(0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Aydius(French pronunciation:[aidjus];Occitan:Aidius) is acommunein thePyrénées-Atlantiquesdepartmentin theNouvelle-Aquitaineregion of south-westernFrance.

Geography

Aydius is located some 25 km south by south-east ofOloron-Sainte-Mariejust east ofBedous.Access to the commune is by the D237 road from Bedous which goes to the village and terminates there. The commune is alpine in nature with extensive forests, rugged terrain and snow-capped mountains in the east.

TheGabarretriver rises in the east of the commune and flows west gathering a large number of tributaries including theRuisseau d'Arces,the Ruisseau du Saslars, the Gave de Béranfueil, theGave de Bouren,theRuisseau d'Ilhiec,theRuisseau Sarité,theRuisseau de Traillère,and theRuisseau de Sahun(which forms part of the western border of the commune) before flowing west to join theGave d'Aspeat Bedous.

Places and hamlets

• Anire
• L'Ardoisière
• Arès (barn)
• Arques (forest)
• Las Arretortes (Cap de)
• Les Arrouyes
• Baich (Rangole de)
• Barca
• Barrada
• Bat (barn)
• Bat (bridge)
• Bérangueil
• Bérie (bank)
• Bérouste (Serrot de)
• Bésur (cabin)
• Bouren
• Cachiquet (cabin)
• Calhabets (Pas de)
• Capdarest
• Capdevielle
• Capouret
• Carn de Haut (bank)
• Casaubon
• Les Catiasses (forest)
• Chechit
• Core de Cam
• Cot de Picars (alley)
• La Courade (Col de)
• Courdé
• Courrège Longue
• Cret Arrouy (Cap de)
• Escarrebirats (Pas d')
• Escourau (bank)
• Escut (forest)
• Guérègne
• Haut (Rangole de)
• Hourquet Roes (cabin)
• Les Ichantes
• Ichantes (forest)
• Illes (bank)
• Le Labay
• Lacazette
• Lacazotte
• Laresse
• Lartigalot
• Latoussé (Pènes des)
• Lespy
• Luc (barn)
• Manautton
• Mariebère (forest)
• Mirande
• Mousquaté (forest)
• Mousté (Col de)
• Pée Nouqué (ruins)
• Pouey
• La Poueye (Hosse de)
• Salaneuve (ruins)
• Les Salars
• Sarrelangue
• Sartiat (forest)
• Sézy (barn)
• Soumaous (Hosse de)
• Tousset
• l'Usclat (forest)

Toponymy

The commune name inGasconisAidius.Michel Grosclaudesaid that the name probably comes from the same root asAydiebut its origin and meaning remain obscure.

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

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Aydius	Aydius	1385	Grosclaude			Village
	Lo temple de Sent Martin d'Aydius	1590	Raymond	18	Register of Aydius, BB, i, folio 3
	Aydius	1750	Cassini
Anire	Amire	1385	Raymond	6	Census	Farm
	Anire	1863	Raymond	6
Le Col des Arques	Le Col des Arques	1863	Raymond	11		Pass from Aydius toGère-Bélesten
Les Arrouyes	Les Arrouyes	1863	Raymond	13		Mountain
Barca	Barca	1863	Raymond	21		Mountain
Le Béranguet	Le Béranguet	1863	Raymond	28		Stream
Le Bouren	Le Bouren	1863	Raymond	35		Stream
Les Ichantes	Les Ichantes	1863	Raymond	81		Hamlet
L'Illecq	L'Illecq	1863	Raymond	82		Stream
Les Jaupins	Les Jaupins	1863	Raymond	85		Hamlet
Mariebère	Marie-Bère	1863	Raymond	108		Mountain
Bois de Mousquaté	Mousquété	1863	Raymond	119		Forest
Mousté	Mousté	1863	Raymond	120		Mountain on the border withSarrance
Col de Pian	Le Col de Pian	1863	Raymond	135		Pass toBedous
Col de Picas	Le Col de Picas	1863	Raymond	135		Mountain Pass
Salars	Les Salars	1863	Raymond	153		Hamlet

Sources:

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

Origins:

• Census:Census of Béarn

History

A rock shelter dating from prehistory calledAbri Gandon-Lassushas been discovered in the commune.

Paul Raymondnoted on page 18 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune had aLay Abbey,vassal of theViscounts of Béarnand that in 1385 there were 30firesand Aydius depended on the bailiwick of Aspe.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name
1995	2014	Bernard Bourguinat
2014	2026	Bernard Choy

Inter-communality

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté de communes du Haut Béarn;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
• the inter-communal association for aid to education in the Vallée d'Aspe;
• the joint association for Haut-Béarn.

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 114 inhabitants.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 685 — 1800 726 +0.83% 1806 701 −0.58% 1821 891 +1.61% 1831 847 −0.51% 1836 822 −0.60% 1841 833 +0.27% 1846 890 +1.33% 1851 813 −1.79% 1856 855 +1.01% 1861 735 −2.98% 1866 695 −1.11% 1872 715 +0.47% 1876 694 −0.74% 1881 613 −2.45% 1886 586 −0.90% 1891 541 −1.59% 1896 526 −0.56%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 520 −0.23% 1906 518 −0.08% 1911 489 −1.15% 1921 349 −3.32% 1926 283 −4.11% 1931 268 −1.08% 1936 241 −2.10% 1946 181 −2.82% 1954 137 −3.42% 1962 98 −4.10% 1968 88 −1.78% 1975 94 +0.95% 1982 67 −4.72% 1990 74 +1.25% 1999 80 +0.87% 2007 102 +3.08% 2012 98 −0.80% 2017 114 +3.07%
Source: EHESSand INSEE

Economy

The economy of the commune is mainly focused towards agriculture and livestock. The commune is part of theAppellation d'origine contrôlée(AOC) zone ofOssau-iraty.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has many sites that are registered as historical monuments:

• TheMaison Guiraudé(1891)
• TheMaison Pualet(16th century)
• TheMaison Hontas(18th century)
• TheAbri Gandon-Lassus Prehistoric Cave(Prehistory)
• TheMaison Ichante(1807)
• TheMaison Casaubon(18th century)

Religious heritage

• TheParish Church of Saint Martin(14th century)is registered as an historical monument.

Environmental heritage

Aydie contains a number of high mountains:

• TheSommet de Tachat(1,408 metres),
• TheSommet de Talabot(1,591 metres),
• TheSommet de Pétraube(1,606 metres,
• TheSommet de Houndarete(1,695 metres),
• TheSoum de la Mousquère(1,778 metres,
• TheTuron de la Goaita(1,805 metres,
• TheLousquette de Barca(1,870 metres,
• ThePic de Lariou(1,903 metres, and
• TheMailh Bassibe(1,973 metres.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

Bibliography

In his bookL'ours et les brebis(The Bear and the sheep), Etienne Lamazou recounted his life as atranshumantshepherd from 1913 to 1969. Originally from Aydius, he never left except to take his cattle to their winter plain. He recounted the life of a shepherd as it still existed at the beginning of the 20th century. All the action takes place in and around Aydius and the book has many thousands of anecdotes sometimes soothing, sometimes moving, and often instructive.

External links

• Aydiuson the 1750 Cassini Map