Mauléon-Licharre

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Mauléon-Licharre
Maule-Lextarre
Coat of arms of Mauléon-Licharre
Mauléon-Licharre (France)
Mauléon-Licharre
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton Montagne Basque (main town)
Community association Pays Basque
Coordinates 43 ° 14 ′  N , 0 ° 53 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 14 ′  N , 0 ° 53 ′  W
height 133-521 m
surface 12.80 km 2
Residents 2,954 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 231 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 64130
INSEE code 64371
Website www.mauleon-licharre.fr

Mauléon - Town Hall and Old Castle

Mauléon-Licharre ( Basque Maule-Lextarre ) is a French commune with 2954 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Basque part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (before 2016: Aquitaine ). The two localities only merged into one municipality in 1841.

location

The double community Mauléon-Licharre is located on the Saison , a tributary of the Gave d'Oloron , about 228 kilometers (driving distance) south of Bordeaux and about 90 kilometers southeast of Bayonne . The next larger town is Oloron-Sainte-Marie (about 31 kilometers east).

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006
Residents 4,500 4,239 4,099 3,533 3,347 3,255

economy

As in almost everywhere in the Basque Country, agriculture and grazing played the dominant role in people's lives for centuries. The soils are fertile and due to the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees in the south, there is sufficient rainfall. In the past, the Basques lived on the principle of self-sufficiency, i. That is, the crops and livestock were used up within the family. Several types of cheese are produced in the region - the best known are: Ossau-Iraty , a semi- hard cheese made from sheep's milk and Etorki , a hard cheese made from sheep's milk.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, a little industry was added, which was based on the traditional handicraft skills of the population - this is how Mauléon-Licharre has become the French center of espadrilles manufacture.

history

About three kilometers south of Mauléon, archaeologists have discovered the prehistoric high fortress Gastelugain , which is around 200 meters above the town of Libarrenx and is estimated to be around 4,000 years old. The existence of a similar system on Mauléon Castle Hill is believed to exist.

Since the Basque language was only written down in the 16th century, very little is known about the early and medieval history of the entire region and of individual places - only a few place and personal names from earlier times have survived. The Silviet , the traditional gathering of men of the Pays de Soule (Basque: Xiberoa or Ziberua ), gathered in the forest of Libarrenx in the 17th and early 18th centuries.

Attractions

Mauléon - Vieux Château
  • Château de Mauléon : The old castle ( vieux château ) of Mauléon was built on a hill on which a kind of moth made of wooden palisades had already stood in the 11th century . In the 13th and 14th centuries, at the instigation of the English crown, which claimed the title of vice count ( vicomte ) in the Soule area, the square was crowned with a stone fortress. During the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French, the area changed rulers several times until it was finally conquered for the French crown in 1449 by Gaston IV, Count of Foix . In 1642 it was built on the orders of Louis XIII. and its first minister Richelieu , but only a few years later (1648) rebuilt in parts using the old foundation walls. However, the castle no longer had any strategic and military significance; it was abandoned and only used as a prison again during the French Revolution .
Mauléon - Château de Maÿtie
  • Château de Maÿtie or Château d'Andurain : The Renaissance building with its windows with crossed windows, typical of the time, was built in 1598 by Arnaud de Maÿtie, who was appointed Bishop of Oloron by Henry IV . It originally consisted of a rectangular core structure with four - also rectangular - corner towers; during the Matalas uprising (1661) a tower of the castle was destroyed and not rebuilt. The towering roof of the core building is higher than the actual structure; Attic windows indicate that parts of the attic were also used for residential purposes (servants). Today the property still belongs to the descendants of the original owner family; It can be visited from July to September.
  • The town hall ( Hôtel de Ville ) is a 17th century palace built for Philibert de Gramont (1621–1707). It was acquired by the Soule estates in 1777 . During the Revolution and afterwards (until 1926) it was used as a sub-prefecture of Mauléon; since 1980 it has served the town as a town hall.
Mauléon - Maison de la Fée
  • La Maison de la Fée (Basque: Laminaren Etxea ), 8 rue du Fort, is perhaps Mauléon's oldest house. Above the wide double door, which was intended for both people and cattle, it bears a year that is sometimes read as 1485, sometimes as 1785 - a dendrochronological examination has not yet been carried out. The life of the people took place almost exclusively on the upper floor, which was slightly protruding and resting on a wooden beam ceiling, and which was a little 'heated' by the warmth rising from the stable.
  • La maison de Bela ou manoir de Bela is a house in the upper town of Mauléon with a late medieval round tower integrated into the current building. It belonged to the tax collector Gérard de Béla.
  • Chapelle St-Jean-de Berraute : The existence of a chapel of the Order of St. John is documented as early as 1220; In former times it was probably the chapel of a commandery of this order, which was mainly concerned with the safety and care of sick or even dying pilgrims. Mauléon was on a Santiago pilgrimage route that led from Oloron via L'Hôpital-Saint-Blaise to Ostabat and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port . Later the little church was converted into the local parish church. The leader of the Matalas uprising , the pastor of Moncayolle, is buried here.
  • Église Notre-Dame de la Haute-Ville : The church in the upper town was built in the 14th century, but has been repeatedly destroyed. Today's church building essentially dates from the 17th century - its clocher trinitaire , which can be seen from afar, places it in a row with other churches in the Pays de La Soule .

partnership

Mauléon-Licharre maintains a partnership with the French municipality of Mauléon (Deux-Sèvres) , about 500 km north, also in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

Personalities

  • Henri de Sponde (1568–1643), French lawyer, historian and bishop
  • Jean de Sponde (1557–1595), French humanist, Renaissance and Baroque writer

literature

  • Jean-Marie Régnier: Histoire de la Soule. Volume 1: Des origines à la Révolution. Ekaïna et al., St.-Jean-de-Luz et al. 1991, ISBN 2-908132-05-2 .

Web links

Commons : Mauléon-Licharre  - collection of images, videos and audio files