Aydius | |
|---|---|
 A general view of Aydius | |
 Location of Aydius | |
  Aydius  Aydius | |
| Coordinates:43°00′07″N0°32′24″W / 43.002°N 0.540°W /43.002; -0.540 | |
| 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[1] |
Area 1 | 34.72 km2 (13.41 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 102 |
| • Density | 2.94/km2 (7.61/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) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Aydius (French pronunciation:[aidjus];[3][4]Occitan:Aidius) is acommune in thePyrénées-Atlantiquesdepartment in theNouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-westernFrance.
Aydius is located some 25 km south by south-east ofOloron-Sainte-Marie just 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.[5]
TheGabarret river 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'Aspe at Bedous.
The commune name inGascon isAidius.Michel Grosclaude said that the name probably comes from the same root asAydie but its origin and meaning remain obscure.[8]
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[9] | |
| 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:
Origins:
A rock shelter dating from prehistory calledAbri Gandon-Lassus
has been discovered in the commune.[12]
Paul Raymond noted on page 18 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune had aLay Abbey, vassal of theViscounts of Béarn and that in 1385 there were 30fires and Aydius depended on the bailiwick of Aspe.[6]
 |
List of Successive Mayors[13]
| From | To | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2014 | Bernard Bourguinat |
| 2014 | 2026 | Bernard Choy |
The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:
In 2017 the commune had 114 inhabitants.
Historical population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: EHESS[14] and INSEE[15] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
The commune has many sites that are registered as historical monuments:
[16][17][18][12][7][19][20]Aydie contains a number of high mountains:
In his bookL'ours et les brebis (The Bear and the sheep), Etienne Lamazou recounted his life as atranshumant shepherd 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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