Espelette
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Espelette Ezpeleta |
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| region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Department | Pyrénées-Atlantiques | |
| Arrondissement | Bayonne | |
| Canton | Baïgura et Mondarrain | |
| Community association | Pays Basque | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 20 ′ N , 1 ° 27 ′ W | |
| height | 33-749 m | |
| surface | 26.85 km 2 | |
| Residents | 2,024 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 75 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 64250 | |
| INSEE code | 64213 | |
| Website | www.mairie-espelette.fr | |
 Saint-Etienne church |
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Espelette ( Basque : Ezpeleta ) is a town in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France with 2,024 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017).
geography
Espelette is located in the French Basque Country in the central Nivetal, which is part of the foothills of the Pyrenees . The place is traversed by the Latsa , which rises at the foot of the Mondarrain mountain in the municipality and later flows into the Nive at Larressore . Espelette is about ten kilometers from the Spanish border.
history
The Basque name Ezpeleta has etymologically at one of boxwood out overgrown field. Espelette was part of the historic Basque region of Lapurdi ( French : Labourd ).
Around the year 1000 the lords of Ezpeleta built a castle here. The first documented member of the family, Aznar, is mentioned in 1059. He was one of the 12 barons of the Kingdom of Navarre . The area later fell to Aquitaine and came under English rule after the marriage of Heinrich Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152 , which lasted until the 14th century.
According to tradition, in the early 16th century the plants from which the now important Piment d'Espelette emerged came to the Nivetal. They are said to come from a Basque sailor who accompanied Columbus on his travels. In Espelette, the cultivation can be traced from around 1650.
During the Franco-Spanish conflict in the Thirty Years War , Baron Bertrand II von Ezpeleta sided with the Spanish side. His possessions on the French side were then confiscated in 1637 at the instigation of Cardinal Richelieu and transferred to his sister Barbe after Bertrand's death in 1640. The castle, which was destroyed after the expropriation by the villagers, was rebuilt as a palace until 1670. The villagers were forced to pay a tribute of 25,000 livres to finance the reconstruction . The last baroness of Ezpeleta, Juliana Henrique, died in 1694 without descendants and bequeathed the castle and the associated lands to the inhabitants of Espelette.
During the terrorist period of the French Revolution , Espelette, along with other places near the Spanish border, was declared by the Welfare Committee in a decree of March 3, 1794 to be a "dishonorable community" ( commune infâme ). Numerous residents were abducted or expropriated during this time.
In 1920 Agnès Souret (1903–1928) , who was then living in Espelette, became the first winner of the “La plus belle femme de France” (later “ Miss France ”) competition. The place itself received the title "Village coquet de France" (Most Beautiful Village in France) in 1922 and in 1955 the title "Prestige de la France".
Economy and Infrastructure
Espelette is famous for its paprika cultivation , the local variant of which has inherited the name of the municipality: Piment d'Espelette (also Espelette pepper). The variety grown in Labord is Capsicum Annuum L. var. Gorria . One hundred and forty producers have joined together to form an AOC ( Appellation d'origine controllée ) community.
In the city's numerous cafes and restaurants, after the harvest, which begins in August and continues into late autumn, the peppers are strung on strings and hung to dry on the ceilings, which sometimes cover all the available space. From the month of September, the village is decorated with garlands of paprika on the facades and balconies of the houses.
The village is also known for breeding the Pottoks , a small breed of horses. There is a fair for this little horse every January.
Espelette coat of arms
Bell pepper garlands as a decoration on a house
Personalities
Sons and daughters of the church
- Armand David (1826–1900), also Père David, French Lazarist and naturalist
- Jean-Pierre Urkia (1918–2011), Vicar Apostolic of Paksé (Laos)
- Roger Etchegaray (1922–2019), Roman Catholic clergyman, Archbishop of Marseille and Cardinal to the Curia
Personalities with connections to the place
- Agnès Souret (1903–1928), first winner of the “La plus belle femme de France” (later “Miss France”) competition in 1920
Web links
- Allspice from Espelette (French)
- In the Name of the Pod Espelette , Die Zeit , October 22, 2009, no.44
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Château des Barons d'Ezpeleta: Un peu d'histoire. Accessed March 21, 2010.
- ↑ Pepperworld: Piment d'Espelette, the French gourmet chili. Accessed March 21, 2010.
- ↑ Pierre Haristoy: Les paroisses du pays basque pendant la période révolutionnaire. Volume 1. Vignancour, Pau 1895, p. 172 .