Bétous

Bétous
region	Occitania
Department	Gers
Arrondissement	Condom
Canton	Grand-Bas-Armagnac
Community association	Communes du Bas Armagnac
Coordinates	43 ° 43 ' N , 0 ° 2' E Coordinates: 43 ° 43 ' N , 0 ° 2' E
height	99-187 m
surface	5.13 km 2
Residents	88 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	17 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	32110
INSEE code	32049
Website	Bétous

Bétous is a French commune with 88 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Gers department in the Occitanie region (before 2016: Midi-Pyrénées ). The community belongs to Arrondissement Condom and Canton Grand Bas-Armagnac (2015: Canton Nogaro ).

The inhabitants are called Bétousiens and Bétousiennes .

geography

Bétous is about 53 kilometers west-southwest of Condom in the historic province of Armagnac .

Bétous is surrounded by the five neighboring communities:

Sion		Loubédat
Sorbets		Sabazan
	Bouzon-Gellenave

Bétous lies in the catchment area of the Adour River .

The Midou , one of its tributaries, forms the natural border with the neighboring western town of Sorbets. Tributaries of the Midou cross the territory of the municipality,

the Petit Midour with its tributaries,
- the Ruisseau de Las Courrèges and
- the Ruisseau de Frizot, and
the Ruisseau de Saint-Aubin.

Population development

After records began, the population rose to a high of around 360 by the middle of the 19th century. In the following period, with intermittent recovery phases, the size of the community fell to its lowest level of around 50 in the 1970s before a phase of growth began .

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2011	2017
Residents	85	94	52	53	55	74	86	98	88

From 1962 official figures excluding residents with a second residence
Sources: EHESS / Cassini until 2006, INSEE from 2011

Botanical garden, called Palmeraie du Sarthou

The history of the palm garden begins in 1980 with the purchase of a completely deserted property with a house and garden by a young couple. After the site was manually cleared, the new owners planted two or three Trachycarpus fortunei ( Chinese hemp palm ) trees . From their seeds and a long selection process, other species were planted. Despite the hardships of winter 1985, the land is gradually covered with a real palm forest, which reproduces itself from the seeds that have fallen on the ground. The opening for visitors took place in 1990. The passion of its owners then turned into a profession. The garden subsequently grows to an extensive area of approximately eight hectares, which was built on the hill of the site and its side slopes to make room for a banana plantation, the tree nursery specializing in exotic plants (2001) and for the orchard. The reception buildings were built between 2001 and 2003, and then expanded in 2008 to accommodate disabled people. In 1999 the owners were awarded the Talents 99 prize , the fourth national prize for setting up a business, in 2003 the first prize of the Regional Tourism Trophy for Midi-Pyrénées and in 2006 the Jardin Remarquable label , awarded by the Ministry of Culture. Gradually, the owners took an approach to environmental awareness among citizens. Protecting the palm is part of a global humanistic perspective on sustainable development. The palm can be a very valuable and even vital resource in many areas (food, pharmaceuticals, textiles, cosmetics, etc.). The educational activities carried out in the palm garden contribute to the discovery of the plant and an awareness of the role it can play in the future in new axes of economic development. The cultivation of orchards and gardens is subject to ecological standards. This approach is also subject to on-site training. The entire garden is included in an environmental savings plan that anticipates the future.

The hilly landscape, overgrown with hedges and forests, benefits from the humidity created by the combined influences of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees . The palm garden is located on a clay-limestone hill, where limestone layers ensure the outflow of their springs, of which currently only one of the water is collected for irrigation. The Sarthou Palm Garden has many plant species that are little known in Europe. When you enter under its thick blanket, it looks like a small tropical forest, dark and wet. The densely planted, hairy trunks of the Chinese palm form a labyrinth in which one loses all sense of direction. The trail then leads to the banana plantation and then to the tropical plant nursery. It offers collections of palm trees, some of which are rare in Europe, and a collection of exotic plants, including bamboo , Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear), sugar cane , papyrus or giant-leaved arrow leaves , the roots of which serve as the basis for the Polynesians' diet . The greenhouse also preserves various exotic flowers. The foliage of the plants, both in shape and size, creates an exotic atmosphere and creates a real sense of the change in the landscape. Changing exhibitions of sculptures (Les Botta, Wolfgang Holz, Kely) present contrasts of raw materials, wood or minerals that complement the plant framework. From time to time a clearing reappears in the sky and underlines the anachronism of a palm tree entwined by a climbing rose. Some lianas are entangled with an old apple tree or old centenary oak. A botanical path leads to an orchard where old varieties of fruit, particularly old Gascony apple trees , were planted with the help of the Conservatoire d'Aquitaine in Montesquieu-Volvestre . It crosses a natural meadow that has been classified as a remarkable meadow within the framework of a European environmental plan and represents a mini ecosystem in which the wild orchids of the Gers are particularly protected. On the edge of the property, the endemic plant species are preserved: three hundred year old oaks, willows and alders along the stream.

Parish Church of Saint-Pierre

It contains items of equipment that are classified as Monument historique :

Leather altar and antependium from the 18th century, in the middle of which the apostle Peter is depicted.
a silver chalice from the 17th century, the work of Jean Affre (1729–1799), silversmith from Auch ,
Altar retable , six candlesticks and an altar cross made of gilded wood from the 17th century,
a gilded silver ciborium from the 17th century, a work by Jean Saint-Raymond (1602–1693) from Toulouse ,
an 18th century oil painting depicting Saint Dominic at the moment of receiving the rosary and
an 18th century oil painting depicting the handing over of the keys to the apostle Peter by Jesus Christ .