Navarrenx

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Navarrenx
Navarrenx Coat of Arms
Navarrenx (France)
Navarrenx
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton Le Coeur de Bearn
Community association Bearn des Gaves
Coordinates 43 ° 19 ′  N , 0 ° 46 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 19 ′  N , 0 ° 46 ′  W
height 118-269 m
surface 6.21 km 2
Residents 1,051 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 169 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 64190
INSEE code 64416
Website Navarrenx

Gave d'Oloron in front of the fortress walls of Navarrenx

Navarrenx is a place and a southwestern French community with 1,051 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) of the center department Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2016: Aquitaine ). The long-distance hiking trail GR 65 leads through the village , which largely follows the historical course of the French Way of St. James Via Podiensis . Navarrenx is a member of the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages in France .

Location and climate

The place Navarrenx is located on the river Gave d'Oloron in the rather flat north of the historical province of Béarn at an altitude of about 125  m . The city of Pau is a good 40 km (driving distance) to the east; the city of Orthez is a good 22 km north. The climate is temperate; the abundant rain (approx. 995 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year 1800 1851 1901 1954 1999 2016
Residents 1,186 1,770 1,288 1,061 1,133 1,044

Despite the phylloxera crisis in viticulture at the end of the 19th and the mechanization of agriculture in the middle of the 20th century, the population of the municipality has remained almost constant.

economy

A large part of the population works in agriculture, cattle and horse breeding, as well as in tourism. Corn cultivation dominates the agricultural products. The company Société 3F - Cigares Navarre is the only one in France to produce cigars with the Puros label . There are 306 companies registered in the municipality (as of March 2015) with an average of two employees.

history

The name Navarrenx refers to the Kingdom of Navarre , near the border of which the settlement was located. The place was first mentioned in writing in 1078 on the occasion of an agreement to repair damage between the rulers of Béarn and Soule . In 1188 a stone bridge is built over the Gave d'Oloron and the place receives market rights. The bridge that still exists today dates from the 13th century, but the defensive tower built over the bridge is no longer there. At the beginning of the 14th century, Navarrenx was expanded into a bastide , which can still be recognized today by the checkered streets and the central square. In 1523 the city was taken by the troops of Philibert de Chalons and the fortifications were destroyed.

Navarrenx - Fortress Fountain (puits)

In the 16th century, the King of Navarre had the city redesigned and expanded into a citadel based on the example of the Tuscan city of Lucca . These walls are still preserved today and enclose the entire city center. In the months of March to July 1569, the citadel proved its effectiveness, because the Huguenots defended themselves against French troops in it until the relief army of Count Montgomery arrived. On the occasion of the unification of the Kingdom of Navarre and the Béarn under French sovereignty, Louis XIII visited. in 1620 the place. A Roman Catholic mass was celebrated in the church on this occasion. It is the same place where the king's grandmother, Jeanne d'Albret , publicly professed Calvinism on Easter Sunday, 1563 . The king took advantage of this visit to retrieve the remaining treasures of the kings of Navarre.

In 1814, Napoleonic forces under General Soult defended the citadel against troops from Arthur Wellesley . In 1871 the citadel was decommissioned and the garrison disbanded. Isaac de Portau is named as overseer of the ammunition in the fortress for an unknown period .

Way of St. James ( Via Podiensis )

Before the construction of the bridge in Navarrenx the Oloron could from the Jacob pilgrims only by boat or with favorable water level by a ford at Charre be overcome. For a long time there was a hospice near the south headquarters to look after the pilgrims. Today there are several pilgrim hostels in town.

Attractions

Navarrenx - Porte Saint-Antoine
  • The town center is still surrounded by the fortress walls (remparts) from the 16th century. It was not until the late 19th century that the fortress was abandoned and the two gates Porte de France and Porte des Mousquetaires were demolished in order to gain free access to the city. The Porte Saint Antoine from 1645, towards Gave d'Oloron, has been preserved to this day.
  • Other preserved structures of the fortress are the powder tower , the barracks square, the military fountain, Gothic houses on the town hall square and the arsenal .
  • The Saint-Germain d'Auxerre church is dedicated to St. Germanus of Auxerre and dates from the 16th century. The bell tower (clocher) closes with a hood with a lantern top, which is rare in the region . The two side aisles were only added in 1862.

Others

  • The World Salmon Fishing Championships take place in Navarrenx at the end of July.

Personalities

  • Catherine de Bourbon (1559-1604), the younger sister of the French King Henry IV. Due to the war preparations of the Kingdom of Navarre against the Catholic League , Catherine had to go to Navarrenx, the only fortified square in the principality, in 1585.
  • Francis Jammes (1868-1938), writer. He was closely associated with Navarrenx, where his mother was from and where his parents married.
  • Henri Lefebvre (1901–1991), Marxist sociologist and philosopher . He lived in a house in Navarrenx that he had inherited from his aunt and died there too.
  • Mady Mesplé (* 1931), soprano . For several years she has led a master class in Navarrenx and is Honorary President of the Association des Pierres Lyriques , whose task is to promote opera in the Béarn.

Town twinning

literature

  • Bettina Forst: French Way of St. James. From Le Puy-en-Velay to Roncesvalles. All stages - with variants and height profiles (= Rother hiking guide ). Bergverlag Rother, Munich (recte: Ottobrunn) 2007, ISBN 978-3-7633-4350-8 .
  • Bert Teklenborg: Cycling along the Camino de Santiago. From the Rhine to the western end of Europe. (Cycling guide, route planner). 3rd, revised edition. Publishing House Tyrolia, Innsbruck 2007, ISBN 978-3-7022-2626-8 .

Web links

Commons : Navarrenx  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Navarrenx - Climate tables
  2. ↑ Artisans / Habitat on ville-navarrenx.fr ( Memento of May 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) in French.
  3. ^ Website of the company Société 3F - Cigares Navarre in French.
  4. ↑ Navarrenx on manageo.fr (French).
  5. ↑ Navarrenx History
Muszla Jakuba.svg
Way of St. James " Via Podiensis "

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