Baigts-de-Béarn

Baigts-de-Béarn is located some 6 km north-west of Orthez and 23 km east of Peyrehorade. The western part of the northern border of the commune is also the departmental border between Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes. Access to the commune is by road D817 from Puyoô in the west which passes through the south of the commune and the village and continues south-east to Orthez. The D415 (the old Route Imperiale) branches from the D817 west of the commune and passes through the village before continuing east to Orthez. The D315 goes north from the village then east to Saint-Boès. The D915 goes north from the D315 to Saint-Girons-en-Béarn. The A64 autoroute passes through the southern tip of the commune but there is no exit with the nearest exit being Exit  7  some 3 km west of the commune. The commune is mostly farmland with scattered forests.[3]

The Gave de Pau forms the southern border of the commune as it flows west to join the Gave d'Oloron at Peyrehorade. Numerous streams rise in the commune and flow south to join the Gave de Pau including the Ruisseau de Montlong. The Ruisseau de Lataillade forms the northern border of the commune as it flows west and forms part of the departmental border with Landes before joining the Gave de Pau west of Puyoô. The Arriou de Bardj rises in the north of the commune and flows west then south to join the Gave de Pau east of Ramous.

The commune name in béarnais is Vaths de Bearn.

The name Baigts means "valley" in Gascon but, according to Michel Grosclaude[5] that meaning is to be avoided. According to him Baigts comes from the Gascon vaths which is derived from vallis meaning "hollow" or "depression" or from vallum meaning "palisade" or "entrenchment". In the old village there is a Rue de l'Embarrat meaning "fortified redoubt".

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)[4]
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750[6]

Origins:

• Fors de Béarn[7]
• Béarn: Titles of Béarn,[8]
• Garos: Notaries of Garos[9]
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn[10]
• Alienations: Alienations of the Diocese of Dax[11]
• Census: Census of Béarn[12]

Paul Raymond noted on page 19 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune depended on the Diocese of Dax and was the capital of the Notary of Rivière-Gave, the name of an arch-priesthood of the diocese of Dax which gave its name to the Gave de Pau. In 1385 the commune had 59 fires.[4]

List of Successive Mayors[13]

(Not all data is known)

In 2017 the commune had 876 inhabitants.

In addition to an economy focused on agriculture (livestock and corn), the commune has a hydroelectric plant.

The commune is part of the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Béarn.

The commune has a primary school.

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baigts-de-Béarn.

• Baigts-de-Béarn on Lion1906
• Baigts on the 1750 Cassini Map