Biarritz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biarritz
Miarritze
Biarritz coat of arms
Biarritz (France)
Biarritz
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement Bayonne
Canton Biarritz (main town)
Community association Pays Basque
Coordinates 43 ° 29 ′  N , 1 ° 33 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 29 ′  N , 1 ° 33 ′  W
height 0-85 m
surface 11.66 km 2
Residents 25,404 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 2,179 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 64200
INSEE code 64122
Website www.biarritz.fr

Biarritz ( basque Miarritze ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

The city has 25,404 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017), is located in the Arrondissement of Bayonne and is the main town (French: chef-lieu ) of the canton of Biarritz . It is located in the extreme southwest of France and is also a lake and medicinal bath on the French Atlantic coast .

history

Founding legend

On the coast, some Basques live poorly from fishing. The beautiful young girl Miarritze has a dream: God promises her to send the soul of his servant Martin to her remote land. He will appear as a colorful bird with a fish with golden scales in its beak, as a sign of the wealth that will be given to the poor people on the coast. A few days later the residents actually find a kingfisher (French: Martin-pêcheur , "Martinsfischer"). Induced by Miarritze, they build ships to go whaling. One day a ship runs aground and Miarritze takes in the seafarers who call themselves Biarrins and come from Gascony. She becomes the leader's wife and this gives rise to the name of the city of Biarritz.

The whaling

Biarritz was known as a whaling port as early as the Middle Ages and the marine mammals appeared in abundance in the Bay of Biscay. The whale fat served as lamp oil, the huge bones were used to build fences, and the hide was used to build hats or armchairs. The fishing port was sheltered on a rock, at high tide you could drag the whales to the shallow beach and split them up at low tide. The roller tongue was considered a special treasure. In the 17th century the whales were exterminated and whaling ended.

From the Belle Époque to today

Until the middle of the 19th century Biarritz (in the Middle Ages: Bearrits) was a rather insignificant fishing village. Around 1800 the village had around 200 inhabitants. The situation changed when, in 1854, Empress Eugénie , a native of Spain and wife of Napoléon III. , came to Biarritz for two months and the emperor then had a residence built for her, which the couple then regularly visited in the summer. The imperial residence is now used as a hotel. These visits made Biarritz known to other royal families in Europe and so the kings of Belgium , Portugal and Württemberg , English lords and Spanish grandees came to Biarritz, and by the end of the 19th century the city already had around 10,000 summer visitors. Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi") recovered in Biarritz. In the 1920s Biarritz was one of the capital cities of Charleston . Even after the Second World War the nobility met here.

In the 1960s, the sophisticated age of Biarritz, begun by Napoleon and Eugenie, ended. While Henry Kings shooting for his Hemingway film version The Sun Also Rises (Original: The Sun Also Rises ) brought the screenwriter Peter Viertel and aspiring producer Dick Zanuck the sport of surfing to Biarritz. Benefiting from the waves of the Bay of Biscay , the beaches around Biarritz are among Europe's surfing strongholds. Like many former bathing and health resorts, Biarritz is now trying to improve its economic situation through congress tourism.

During the storm surge on Europe's Atlantic coast in February 2014 , the Spanish freighter Luno broke in two when it ran aground on the pier. The ship had to be scrapped in the following months.

From August 24 to 26, 2019, Biarritz was the venue for the G7 summit .

Town twinning

Panoramic view of Biarritz from the lighthouse
Hotel du Palais, former residence of the Empress Eugenie
Stranded ship, 1996
Stormy seas
Musée de la Mer (Biarritz Aquarium)
Bathing pleasure at the Grande Plage

Attractions

  • Place Georges-Clémenceau, the center of the city
  • The beach promenade at the Grande Plage with the 73 m high lighthouse
  • Rocher de la Vierge , a rocky reef near the fishing port; the reef is accessible via a bridge that Gustave Eiffel built
  • Musée de la Mer , sea water aquarium and natural history collection
  • Synagogue , consecrated in 1904
  • Château de Françon
  • Villa Belza

Sports

The most important sports club is Biarritz Olympique , which is best known for its rugby union team. Other popular sports in Biarritz include surfing, golf and pelota .

Economy and Infrastructure

Biarritz shares Biarritz Airport with Anglet and Bayonne .

Personalities

born in Biarritz:

died in Biarritz:

buried in Biarritz:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of Biarritz
  2. ↑ Spectacular ship break off the south of France. Unleashed forces of nature and a crew in fear of death: a Spanish freighter crashed into a dam in a storm off a beach in southern France and broke in two. In: The world. Retrieved February 6, 2014 .
  3. ^ The Luno. (PDF) In: Ship Breaking # 36 - Bulletin of information and analysis on ship demolition. Robin de Bois, July 29, 2014, pp. 1 ff , accessed on August 8, 2014 (English).
  4. ↑ Emmanuel Macron on Twitter. Retrieved July 28, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Pays Basque: En 2019, la France accueillera le G7 à Biarritz. Retrieved July 28, 2018 (French).

Web links

Wiktionary: Biarritz  - explanations of meanings, origins of words, synonyms, translations
Commons : Biarritz  - collection of images, videos and audio files