Ainharp
Commune
The road into Ainharp
Location of Ainharp
Ainharp Show map of France Ainharp Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 43°15′41″N 0°55′45″W / 43.2614°N 0.9292°W / 43.2614; -0.9292Coordinates: 43°15′41″N 0°55′45″W / 43.2614°N 0.9292°W / 43.2614; -0.9292
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Montagne Basque
Intercommunality	CA Pays Basque
Government
• Mayor .mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal} (2014-2020)	Jean-Pierre Arhanchiague
Area 1	14.07 km2 (5.43 sq mi)
Population (2014)2	140
• Density	10.0/km2 (26/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64012 /64130
Elevation	129–426 m (423–1,398 ft) (avg. 199 m or 653 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ainharp (Basque: Ainharbe) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ainharbars.^[1] or Ainharbear.^[2][3]

Geography[edit]

The Fronton at Ainharp

Location[edit]

Ainharp is located some 50 km west by southwest of Pau, 15 km southeast of Saint-Palais, and 10 km north-west of Mauleon-Licharre. It is part of the former province of Soule.

Access[edit]

The commune can be accessed by road D242 from Lohitzun-Oyhercq in the west passing through the village and continuing southeast to Mauleon-Licharre. The D344 road also goes to the north from the village through the commune then east to Espes-Undurein. The commune terrain is undulating of mixed farmland and forest.^[4]

Hydrography[edit]

Located in the drainage basin of the Adour, the commune is the source of numerous streams including the Lagardoye which forms part of the south-eastern border, the Quihilleri which forms much of the western border, and the Lafaure which forms much of the northern border.^[4]

Localities and hamlets^[5][edit]

Toponymy[edit]

The commune name in Basque is Ainharbe.^[3]

Ainharp Town Square

Jean-Baptiste Orpustan proposed two etymological interpretations:

• a meaning of "low heather" from ilharr meaning "heather" and -be (from behere meaning "low") or


• "height of the low rocks" from gain meaning "high" and har meaning "rock" that indicates the high position of the village on the left bank of the Saison.

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Sources:

• 
  Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)^[6]
  


• 
  Orpustan: Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, New Basque Toponymy^[7]
  

Origins:

• 
  Notaries: Notaries of Labastide-Villefranche^[8]
  


• 
  Ohix:Contracts retained by Ohix, Notary of Soule^[9]
  


• 
  Insinuations: Insinuations of the Diocese of Oloron^[10]
  


• 
  Reformation: Reformation of Béarn^[11]
  

History[edit]

Paul Raymond noted on page 4 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune was a former priory in the diocese of Oloron and that there was a hospital for pilgrims.^[6]

Administration[edit]

List of Successive Mayors of Ainharp^[12]

The Town Hall

Mayors from 1929

(Not all data is known)

Inter-communality[edit]

Ainharp is a member of seven intercommunal structures:

• the community of communes of Soule-Xiberoa


• the association to support Basque culture


• the intercommunal association of the Valley


• the intercommunal association for the construction and operation of the CES of Mauleon


• the AEP association for Soule Country


• the remediation association for Soule Country


• the energy association of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Demography[edit]

In 2010 the commune had 147 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1]}

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Population of Ainharp

Economy[edit]

The activity is mainly agricultural (maize and livestock). The town is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.

Culture and heritage[edit]

Religious Heritage[edit]

Ainharp Church

Old Hilarri in the churchyard

The commune has a church which dates back to the 11th century and a Calvary-Bell Tower from the 17th century. Its cemetery features Hilarri dating from the time of the bell tower.

The village is located on a secondary road of the pilgrimage to Saint Jacques de Compostela^[13] which passes on the highway to Ports de Cize, the priory of Saint-Palais to Saint-Michel-le-Vieux which had a hospice for pilgrims called Benta then to L'Hôpital-Saint-Blaise, Osserain, Pagolle, Roquiague, Haux, Larrau, and Ordiarp.

Facilities[edit]

The commune has a primary school.

See also[edit]

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department


• Cantons of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department


• Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

External links[edit]

• 
  AINHARBE in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa) (in Spanish)
  


• Ainharp on Lion1906


• Ainharp on Google Maps


• 
  Ainharp on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
  


• 
  Ainharp on the 1750 Cassini Map


• 
  Ainharp on the INSEE website (in French)
  


• 
  INSEE (in French)
  

Notes and references[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

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