Aast, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Aast is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France.

Aast
Commune
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Aast
Aast
Aast
Coordinates: 43°17′25″N 0°05′21″W
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentPyrénées-Atlantiques
ArrondissementPau
CantonVallées de l'Ousse et du Lagoin
IntercommunalityNord-Est Béarn
Government
 • Mayor (2020-2026) Jean-François Garnier
Area
1
4.75 km2 (1.83 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)
185
 • Density39/km2 (100/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Aastais, Aastaises
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
64001 /64460
Elevation367–393 m (1,204–1,289 ft)
(avg. 390 m or 1,280 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The inhabitants are known as Aastais.[1]

The local pronunciation is aas with a highly nasalised 'a' and a silent 't'.[2]

Geography
Aast Drinking Trough

Location

The village is situated on the plateau of Ger and is composed of a dozen scattered houses. Aast is 20 km east of Pau and 20 km north of Lourdes. Access to the commune is by road D70 then D311 north-east from Gardères, road D64 north-west from Ger, and road D311 when coming south from Ponson-Dessus. Other country roads can also be used to access the commune.[3]

Hydrography

Located in the Drainage basin of the Adour, Aast is traversed by the Carbouère stream, a tributary of the Louet river.[4]

Localities and hamlets
  • Aast
  • Bayet
  • Bidou
  • Cadet
  • France
  • Gachau
  • Hourcade
  • Lasbordes
  • Lasserre
  • Lassus
  • Lescloupe
  • Mouly
  • Pouquet
  • Rémy
  • Toulou

[5]

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

Aast is the first French commune in alphabetical order. Previously, Aas, another commune in the Lower Pyrenees, came first until 1861, when it merged with the commune of Assouste to form the new commune of Eaux-Bonnes.

The commune's Béarnais name is also Aast.

According to Dauzat and Rostaing Aast comes from the Basque ast ("rock"). This seems unlikely given the physical setting. Michel Grosclaude[2] suggests that the name of the town derives from an anthroponym composed of Aner + Aster. Brigitte Jobbé-Duval[6] recalls that in 1429, Aast appeared as Hast, which means lance, and therefore advanced the theory that Aast could refer to a battle that occurred there.

The following table details the origins of the commune name.

NameSpellingDateSourcePageOriginDescription
AastHast1429Raymond
1
CensusVillage
Ast1544Raymond
1
Reformation
Aast1750Cassini

Sources:

Origins:

  • Census: Census of Montaner[9]
  • Reformation: Reformation of Béarn[10]

History

There was a Lay Abbey in Aast which was abolished in 1791. The Lordship of Aast was owned by the Day family from 1674 until the French Revolution. In 1678, Jérome de Day, adviser to the king, bought the abbey and tithes with rights of patronage: he was to provide a priest and entitled to receive a portion of the tithe, to sit in the choir, to be first to receive the blessed bread, and to be buried in the church.

Heraldry
Arms of Aast
 Blazon:

Argent, two halberds sable saltirewise with an inescutcheon gules with two cows collared and belled in Or passing one over the other debruised in fess point overall.[11][12]

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Aast[13]

Mayors from the French Revolution to 1942
FromToNamePartyPosition
18001802Jean Poublan
18021806Matthieu Tisné
18061820Jean Bidou
18201822Michel Naude
18221824Alexis Lassus
18241828Michel Naude
18281835Pierre Capdevielle
18351837Alexis Lassus
18371852Pierre Picourlat
18521865Barthélémy Lassus
18651871Jean Lassus (fils)
18711881Jacques Tisné Daban
18811889Jean Lasserre
18891892Pierre Tisné Daban
18921904Jean Lasserre
19041919Jean Sarthou
19191942Jacques Louis Lasserre
The Aast War Memorial
Mayors from 1942
FromToNamePartyPosition
19421944Dominique Picourlat
19441945Célestin Tisné Daban
19451945Jean Sylvain Lascassies
19451949Célestin Tisné Daban
19491983Jean Lassus
19832008Jean-Noël LacourrègeRPR then UMPGeneral Counsel
20082019Romain MorlanneDVD
2020CurrentJean-François Garnier

(Not all data is known)

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 140—    
1800 138−0.21%
1806 140+0.24%
1821 173+1.42%
1831 168−0.29%
1836 175+0.82%
1841 167−0.93%
1846 188+2.40%
1851 206+1.85%
1856 220+1.32%
1861 237+1.50%
1866 209−2.48%
1872 213+0.32%
1876 199−1.69%
1881 190−0.92%
1886 183−0.75%
1891 200+1.79%
1896 214+1.36%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 186−2.77%
1906 191+0.53%
1911 183−0.85%
1921 160−1.33%
1926 167+0.86%
1931 145−2.79%
1936 140−0.70%
1946 126−1.05%
1954 140+1.33%
1962 140+0.00%
1968 203+6.39%
1975 115−7.80%
1982 140+2.85%
1990 163+1.92%
1999 190+1.72%
2007 181−0.60%
2012 183+0.22%
2017 181−0.22%
Source: EHESS[14] and INSEE[15]
A Wayside Cross in Aast

Politics

Presidential Elections Second Round:[16]

ElectionWinning CandidateParty%
2017 Emmanuel Macron EM 77.97
2012 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 53.08
2007 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 53.52
2002 Jacques Chirac RPR 84.83

Culture and Heritage

Civil heritage

The town has a number of old farmhouses:

  • The Fray Farmhouse (17th century)[17]
  • A Farmhouse at Bayet (19th century)[18]
  • Houses and Farms (18th and 19th century)[19]

Religious Heritage
The Church of Saint Martin

The Church of Saint Martin (1854)[20] dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours was built under Napoleon III during the administration of Mayor Bartholomew Lassus. Recently renovated by the artist Villarubias, there are many objects in the church registered as historical objects:

  • A Processional Lantern (18th century)[21]
  • A Thurible (17th century)[22]
  • A Pail for holy water (19th century)[23]
  • A Painting: Christ on the cross with the Virgin, Saint Madeleine and Saint Martin (18th century)[24]
  • 2 Paintings: Saint Martin Bishop, and the Charity of St. Martin (19th century)[25]
  • Statue: Saint Joseph (19th century)[26]
  • Altar Pulpit (19th century)[27]
  • A Pulpit (18th century)[28]
  • 2 Altars and Tabernacles (19th century)[29]
  • The Main Altar (19th century)[30]
  • 5 stained glass windows by Henri Gesta (1927)[31]
  • The Furniture in the Church[32]

See also

References
  1. Inhabitants of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Archived 2014-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Michel Grosclaude, Toponymical Dictionary of communes, Béarn, ed. Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006 ISBN 2-35068-005-3, page 201 (in French)
  3. Google Maps
  4. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - Ruisseau de Carbouère (Q0400510)".
  5. Géoportail Archived 2014-05-04 at the Wayback Machine, IGN, consulted on 14 October 2011 (in French)
  6. Brigitte Jobbé-Duval, Dictionary of place names - Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2009, ed. Archives and Culture ISBN 978-2-35077-151-9 (in French)
  7. Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees Archived 2014-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 (in French)
  8. Cassini Map 1750 – Aast Archived 2014-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Manuscript from 1429 in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  10. Manuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
  11. Arms of France Archived 2013-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Website for the Commune of Aast Archived 2013-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  13. List of Mayors of France Archived 2014-08-14 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  14. Données Cassini, EHESS
  15. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  16. http://www.lemonde.fr/data/france/presidentielle-2017/
  17. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00027123 Fray Farmhouse (in French)
  18. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00027122 Farmhouse at Bayet (in French)
  19. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00027121 Houses and Farms (in French)
  20. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00027125 Church of Saint Martin (in French)
  21. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000012 Processional Lantern (in French)
  22. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000011 Thurible (in French)
  23. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000010 Pail for holy water (in French)
  24. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000009 Painting: Christ on the cross with the Virgin, Saint Madeleine and Saint Martin (in French)
  25. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000008 2 Paintings: Saint Martin Bishop, and the Charity of St. Martin (in French)
  26. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000007 Statue: Saint Joseph (in French)
  27. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000006 Altar Pulpit (in French)
  28. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000005 Pulpit (in French)
  29. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000004 2 Altars and Tabernacles (in French)
  30. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000003 Main Altar (in French)
  31. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000002 5 stained glass windows by Henri Gesta (in French)
  32. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000001 Furniture in the Church (in French)
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