Lit-et-Mixe
| Lit-et-Mixe | ||
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| region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Department | Country | |
| Arrondissement | Dax | |
| Canton | Cote d'Argent | |
| Community association | Côte Landes Nature | |
| Coordinates | 44 ° 2 ′ N , 1 ° 15 ′ W | |
| height | 0-72 m | |
| surface | 112.95 km 2 | |
| Residents | 1,606 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 14 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 40170 | |
| INSEE code | 40157 | |
| Website | www.lit-et-mixe.com | |
 Town center outside the high season |
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Lit-et-Mixe is a French commune on the Bay of Biscay ; it belongs to the canton of Côte d'Argent in the department of land in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine . The municipality consists of the inland villages of Lit and Mixe, which merged in 1825, as well as a small settlement immediately behind the dune and sandy beach, called Cap de l'Homy, which is connected to the rest of the municipality via an approximately seven-kilometer spur road.
Place name
The place name Lit probably comes from the Latin litus (German: shore, shoreline), Mixe from mosconum (German: spots ). Today the parish adorns itself with the name La grande dame du Marensin ; as Marensin the southern part is Landes de Gascogne designated where the spot is.
location
Lit-et-Mixe is located on the Départementale D 652 route, which runs parallel to the coast between Mimizan and Léon , which are each around 20 km from the main town of the municipality; this is part of the Camino de Santiago . Also 20 km away, east of Lit-et-Mixe, runs the motorway-like Route Nationale 10 between Bordeaux and Bayonne .
The neighboring municipalities are Saint-Julien-en-Born in the north, Uza and Lévignacq in the east and Linxe and vielle-Saint-Girons in the south.
Population development
At the beginning of the 20th century, around 1800 people lived in Lit-et-Mixe, and in 1962 only around 1260 people. The number of inhabitants has increased only slightly since then - from 1322 (1982) to currently 1606 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) - which, in addition to the typical French “depopulation” of rural areas, is also due to the municipality's rather restrictive building permit practice. This makes it the third largest municipality in terms of population in the canton of Castets .
politics
Bertrand Puyo has been mayor of the municipality since 1983, and he is running again in the local elections at the end of March 2014 at the head of a list called Union pour vivre ensemble à Lit-et-Mixe . For the first time there is an opposing candidate, the Alternative litoise list .
economy
Agriculture and Forestry
More than three quarters of the municipal area, around 9,000 hectares, are covered by forests (mainly pine ), in which larger heather islands are embedded; they are part of the Forêt des Landes . Forestry and wood processing therefore play an important role; the region is one of the most important French suppliers of tree resin . In isolated cases, agriculture is still practiced (on around 10% of the community area); There is also a larger poultry farm in Mixe that specializes in the production and retail sale of foie gras , confit de canard and liver pâté ( paté d'oie ).
These traditional main economic activities are also reflected in the municipality's coat of arms (see illustration on the right) . A squirrel with a pine cone, a shepherd on stilts in the region's historical professional costume and a rowing boat with coastal fishermen are grouped around the name Lit-et-Mixe.
tourism
These more traditional uses are now surpassed by summer tourism , although bathing is dangerous for days on this stretch of coast because of the back currents (French: baïne , courant ). Due to the current conditions, the beach at Cap de l'Homy has increasingly attracted surfers since the turn of the millennium ; a surf school has now also been opened there. Lit-et-Mixe has several hotels, apartment complexes and campsites of various categories; the overnight capacity is around 7,600 guests. In the main town there are numerous restaurants, shops and boutiques, some of which are not open before June or after the end of August.
In the past three decades, the municipality has resisted the temptation to approve more than one community-run campsite, a handful of single-storey holiday homes and a small row of shops right on the Atlantic coast with its 11 km long sandy beach . It not only advertises bathing holidaymakers, but also with its large range of natural hiking trails , slopes for mountain bikes and numerous, low-traffic side streets that are well suited for cycle tourists . A road-independent cycle path network is being set up; a beautiful route leads from Lit-et-Mixe via Uza to Lévignacq (Piste du Vignac, 7.7km); An exclusive cycle path from Lit to Cap de l'Homy has existed since 2015 (Piste Cyclable bourg de Lit / Cap de l'Homy, 8.1km). In order to reduce motorized individual traffic, a systematic parking lot management system was set up near the beach at the beginning of the 21st century; During the high season a free bus line runs between Lit and the Cap.
Notre-Dame church
The well-fortified stone church with a tile-roofed nave in the center of the village was built in the 15th century. The carved wooden wing doors and the stone Pietà near the tower entrance have also been preserved from this period . Notre-Dame de Lit counts nowadays to the under protective standing Monuments historiques in France.
The vaulted ceiling , choir and the stained glass windows were restored between 1896 and 1899; Part of the costs required for this were borne by the members of the parish themselves. In 1906, according to plans by the architect Jean Jules Mondet, the originally flat bell tower was increased in a neo-Gothic style with a significantly slimmer, tapering tip, at the corners of which four angel sculptures were erected. Finally, the masonry on the north aisle was partially redesigned.
Sports and events
Lit-et-Mixe has a small bullring , a modern rugby stadium and a place for the Basque national sport of pelota , known here as pétanque . The local rugby team of SA Litois even became national champion of all French première-série clubs (eighth top division) in 2006 and is currently (2010/11 season) playing in the honors / promotion (sixth division).
On Ascension Day each year thousands gather in Lit-et-Mixe by friends of the 2CV with up to 2,000 vehicles ( "Duck").
Remarks
- ↑ to http://www.lit-et-mixe.com/decouvrir/histoire.html
- ↑ to http://www.lit-et-mixe.com/decouvrir/population.html
- ↑ see the articles “Bertrand Puyo is striving for another mandate” from February 11, 2014 and “Pierre Juyon for an alternative” from January 10, 2014, both from Sud Ouest
- ↑ Details at http://www.lit-et-mixe.com/decouvrir/eco/tourisme.html
- ↑ 360 ° panoramic view of Cap de l'Homy, taken from the dune, at http://www.cote-landes-nature.fr/cap-de-lhomy.html
- ↑ see the Aquitaine regional inventory of monuments
- ↑ 360 ° panoramic view of the main town, taken from the church tower, at http://www.cote-landes-nature.fr/lit-eglise.html
- ^ Page of the Rugby Association ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Enter the Comité Côte Basque Landes there and click on Compétition HPH - Honneur / Promotion Honneur - Championnat Territorial )
Web links
- Official municipality website (French)
- Site of the tourist office in Lit-et-Mixe (in four languages, also in German)
- Website of the community network Côte Landes Nature (five languages, also German)