Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port ; Donibane Garazi
region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Bayonne
Canton	Montagne Basque
Community association	Pays Basque
Coordinates	43 ° 10 ′ N , 1 ° 14 ′ W Coordinates: 43 ° 10 ′ N , 1 ° 14 ′ W
height	156-320 m
surface	2.73 km 2
Residents	1,587 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	581 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	64220
INSEE code	64485
Website	Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
	; Bridge over the Nive de Béhérobie in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the tower of the Notre-Dame church on the left and the citadel on the mountain in the background

Saint-Jean-Pied-de- Port ( Basque Donibane Garazi ) is a French town with 1,587 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine . It is located on the border with Spain , 76 km from the Spanish city of Pamplona and 53 km from the Atlantic coast ( Bay of Biscay ), and belongs to the French Basque Country . Until its dissolution in 2015, the city was the main town (French: chef-lieu ) of its own canton , since then it has been part of the Montagne Basque canton .

The city used to have other names, namely Santa Maria Cabo el Puente or Sainte-Marie du Bout du Pont .

The current name of the city (" Saint John at the foot of the pass") is derived from its location at the beginning of the pass road to Roncesvalles / Spain . The inhabitants are called Saint-Jeannais in French or Garaztar or Donibandar in Basque .

At Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the Laurhibar and Nive d'Arnéguy rivers flow into the Nive , which is still known as the Nive de Béhérobie above the city .

The city is an important place on the Camino de Santiago Via Podiensis and at the same time the last stop on French soil. The pilgrimage then continues on the Camino Francés , which leads to the Pyrenees , over the Ibañeta Pass , to Pamplona and finally to Santiago de Compostela .

history

Hostel for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port train station, around 1910

The city has been known since the 12th century, from then on it served as a fortification for the border of the Kingdom of Navarre . The Château de Mendiguren has risen on the mountain above the village since at least 1191 . In 1329 Philip of Navarre granted the city the right to hold markets within its walls, making it a center of cross-border trade with Spain.

Between 1512 and 1530 Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port was one of the scenes of the conquest of the Aragonese Crown against Navarre. Many defenses and houses fell victim to destruction during these years. But it remained one of the main places of the remaining kingdom of Lower Navarre (French: Basse-Navarre , Basque. Nafarroa Beherea , Spanish: Baja Navarra ), which fell to France in 1589. From that time on, Saint-Jean was the capital of the Basque province of the same name until it became part of the Basses-Pyrénées department in 1790.

From 1625 the castle was converted into a citadel , under the direction of the French fortress builder Vauban , the defenses in the city were also fundamentally rebuilt by 1728.

On December 11, 1898, the railway reached the place. The railway company Chemins de fer du Midi prolonged that year her from Bayonne coming rail line through the opened since 1892 endpoint Osses addition to Saint-Jean-Pied-de- Port .

coat of arms

Description: The red coat of arms has four quarters. In the first a silver fort with tinned towers, the middle one is the higher one, with black windows and a black passage; in the second the nimbly Saint John wrapped in a golden cloth and holding a stalked golden cross with a silver pennant and black capitals "SAN JUAN" in his left hand; in the third the golden Navarra chain and in the last a lying silver sheep .

Attractions

Rue de la Citadelle

Access to the citadel

The old town on both sides of the Nive de Béhérobie is still surrounded by a city wall. Anyone who approaches the city on the pilgrimage route from the northeast, enters it through the James Gate (French: Porte Saint-Jacques ), which has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage " Paths of the Pilgrims of St. James in France " since 1998 . Within the walls, the street of the citadel (French rue de la Citadelle ) is lined with houses, the oldest of which date from the 16th century. The traditional hostels for pilgrims still exist here today. The houses and walls are made of pink or gray sandstone.

The Porte Notre-Dame leads through the base of the tower of the church of the same name out onto the bridge over the Nive. On both sides of the river, the medieval houses stand directly on the bank, their wooden balconies stretch out over the water.

Before the bridge, but outside the walls, a footpath, the Chemin de ronde , leads up to the citadel. This is secured with four bastions in all directions, there are further walls towards the city, from which the street and city gates could be covered with cannon fire.

Way of St. James ( Via Podiensis , Camino Francés )

Route Napoleon - Orisson

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port marks the end of the French Way of St. James, Via Podiensis , which has already included two important French Way of St. James , the Via Turonensis and the Via Lemovicensis , and the beginning of the Camino Francés , which is the rest of the way to Santiago de Compostela stands. For pilgrims to St. James, it is also the starting point for crossing the Pyrenees . The route Napoleon is mostly used for the ascent to the Ibañeta Pass , in winter and in bad weather, many pilgrims choose the route via Valcarlos along the road connection D933 – N135. Both lead to the Augustinian monastery in Roncesvalles , the first pilgrimage station on Spanish soil. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port offers several pilgrims' hostels (French: Gîte d'étape ), hotels and private rooms (French: Chambre d'hôtes ), as well as a tourist information office, a campsite and a train station for the SNCF .

Town twinning

There has been a twinning with the Spanish city of Estella in the province of Navarra since 1964 .

Personalities

Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529–1588), Spanish doctor and philosopher
Bernard Housset (* 1940), Catholic clergyman, former bishop of La Rochelle

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 : Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Website of the Tourism Office of Saint Jean Pied de Port (French)
Along the Via Podiensis (French)
Description on patrimoine-de-france.org ( Memento from June 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (French)

Way of St. James " Via Podiensis "

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