Abitain

Abitain
Location of Abitain
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Sauveterre-de-Béarn
Intercommunality	Sauveterre-de-Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Didier Lasserre
Area 1	6.59 km2 (2.54 sq mi)
Population  (2009)	111
• Density	17/km2 (44/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64004 /64390
Elevation	28–136 m (92–446 ft) (avg. 62 m or 203 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Abitain is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Aquitaine region of southwestern France.

The inhabitants are known as Abitainois, or Abitaonoises.^[1]

Abitain is bordered on the eastern side by the Gave d'Oloron and is about 20 km south east of Peyrehorade. Leaving Peyrehorade on Highway D33 then continuing across La Pyrénéenne Highway A64 E80 onto Highway D28 which joins Highway D936 to pass through Abitain. The D936 is the only highway that passes through Abitain.

Located in the watershed of the Adour, the commune's eastern border is the Gave d'Oloron, which joins the Gave de Pau at Peyrehorade and flows a further 10 km as the Gaves Réunis before joining the Adour river. A number of small streams flow in the commune including Le Crabé which flows into the Gave d'Oloron at the northern border of the commune and the Arrioutèque creek.^[2]

The name Abitain appears in the forms:

• Bitengs (13th century,^[4] Cartulary of Bayonne^[5])
• Bitenh,^[4]Vitenh, and Abitenh^[6] (1385 for the three forms census of Béarn^[7])
• Abithen and Sent-Pee d'Abitehn ( respectively in 1439 and 1472,^[4] notaries of Labastide-Villefranche^[8])
• Havitenh and Avitenh (respectively in 1538 and 1546,^[4] reformation of Béarn^[9])
• Aviteing (1608,^[4] insinuations of the diocese of Oloron^[10])
• Avitein (1786,^[4] regulations of the states of Béarn^[11])
• Abitain (18th century,^[6]Cassini map).

Michel Grosclaude^[6] proposes a Latin etymology of Avitus (name of man "Avit") plus the Gascon suffix -enh.

The commune's name in Béarnais is Avitenh.

• Aunès is mentioned by Paul Raymond as a fief of Abitain, which appeared in the forms:
• L'Ostau d'Ones (1385,^[4] census of Béarn^[7]),
• La maison noble de Donez (Noble House of Donez) (1666,^[4] reformation of Béarn^[9])
• Oneix (1783,^[4] numbered)
• Aunez (1863 Topographical Dictionary of the Béarn-Basque Region^[4]).

This fiefdom was a barony in March 1775, a vassal of the Viscount of Béarn.^[4] Bonnefont was also a fief of Abitain, under the marquisate of Gassion, which was mentioned in the forms:

• Bonehont (1385,^[4] census of Béarn^[7]) and
• Bonafont (1538,^[4] in the reformation of Béarn^[9]).

Lafite, is a relevant fief of the Viscount of Béarn, appearing in 1538^[4] in the reformation of Béarn,^[9] with the spelling of L’ostau de Lafiite d’Abitenh.

Parlarriu or Partarríu was a farm and a fief, vassal of the Viscount of Béarn, depending on the bailiwick of Sauveterre mentioned with the spelling:

• l’ostau de Part-l’Arriu d’Abitenh (1385 censier Béarn^[7])
• Partarríu (1546 reformation of Béarn^[9]) and
• Pallarieu (1778 terrier book^[12] of Abitain^[13]).

La Peyre is a variant mentioned in 1863 by the Topographical Dictionary of the Béarn-Basque Region.^[4]

Pouey was a fief of Abitain, a vassal of the Viscount of Béarn, cited as Poey (1755,^[4] counted in 1863^[4] in the Topographical Dictionary of the Béarn-Basque Region).

La Tuilerie was a fief of Abitain that appeared in 1537^[4] with the spelling La Teulère (Titles of Béarn^[14]).

The village of Abitain formed on the left bank of the Gave d'Oloron around its Lay Abbey, vassal^[4] of the Viscounts of Bearn, a building which still remains. The families of Belloc then Claverie were the abbot patrons of the parish. The tomb of the last lay Abitain abbot, who died in 1785, is in the church of Saint-Pierre.

Raymond Paul^[4] notes that in 1385, the town had five "fires" and depended on the bailiwick of Sauveterre.

In 1648,^[4] the barony of Lons became a marquisate, which included Abitain, Anoye, Baleix, Castillon, Juillacq, Le Leu (hamlet Oraàs), Samsons-Lion, Lons, Maspie, Oraàs, Peyrède (fief Oraàs), Sauvagnon, and Viellepinte.

The village had two mills: one at Leü (which actually depended on Oraàs), and one at Séguabache, now a sawmill.

In 1856, Ferdinand Carrère, heir to the last Lay Abbey demolished the old abbey castle to build Carrère castle in Escos.

In February 1814, the town was occupied by the troops of General Morillo and by the English, facing the French entrenched in Oraàs. A famous ferry - where there was a tragic accident in 1845 - has long been in service between Moliède and Athos.

List of Successive Mayors of Abitain

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1935	1940	Pierre de Chevigné
1945	1965	Pierre de Chevigné	MRP
1995	2001	Denise Saint-Pé	UDF
2001	2008	Victor Masero	DVD
2008	2014	Didier Lasserre

(Not all data is known)

The town is a member of seven inter-communal organisations:^[15]

• the community of communes of Sauveterre-de-Béarn
• the Public agency for local management
• the inter-communal centre for social action of Sauveterre-de-Béarn;
• the intercommunal union of communal associations of Gave d'Oloron and Mauléon-Licharre
• the inter-communal union for Rivers and Lakes
• the AEP Union of Sauveterre-de-Béarn
• the Energy Union of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

In 2010, the commune had 101 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1] [Note 2]}

Template:Table Population Town

The activity of the commune is mainly agricultural. A sawmill is also in operation.

The town is part of the zone designation of Ossau-iraty.

There is only the ruins of the mill Leu which has been the subject of numerous lawsuits. Another mill, called Séguabache, is the current sawmill and is easily visible in the commune.

During the construction of the clock tower in 1926 what remained of the old lay abbey was destroyed. In the old abbey there was a special room where the Lord of the Manor could overlook the church choir and follow the Mass without being in the crowd. The abbey enclosure can still be seen.

The funeral litter of the last lord of Abitain was discovered during the restoration of the church. It was marked on the wall of the church to preserve its memory.

The St. Peter Church,^[16] of Roman origin, still has the arms of the Abitain abbots (Blason: Azure, with two stars Or in chief) from the burial of the last abbot. There is a 16th-century window of Germanic origin. Also in the church (in the attic) is an altarpiece from the 17th century.

The cemetery contains the graves of priests and that of Father Joffre, Capuchin missionary in Canada who died at Abitain in 1909, and the tomb of Colonel Count Pierre de Chevigne Companion of the Liberation, one of the greats of béarnaise politics, a strong and faithful supporter of General de Gaulle. The coat of arms of Chevigne are engraved on his tomb with the motto "Quod decet". He donated land and equipment to the communes of Abitain and Escos.

Pierre de Chevigné, born in Toulon in 1909 and died in Biarritz in 2004 was a colonel and French politician, a Minister in the Fourth Republic and a companion of the Liberation. He was mayor of Abitain from 1935 to 1940 and from 1945 to 1965.

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
• INSEE commune file