Aren, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Aren
Commune
The road into Aren
Location of Aren
Aren Show map of France Aren Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 43°15′43″N 0°41′14″W / 43.2619°N 0.6872°W / 43.2619; -0.6872
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Oloron-Sainte-Marie-1
Intercommunality	Haut Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	David Mirande[1]
Area 1	7.39 km2 (2.85 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	246
• Density	33/km2 (86/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64039 /64400
Elevation	154–269 m (505–883 ft) (avg. 205 m or 673 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Aren is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. It is part of the urban area (aire d'attraction des villes) of Oloron-Sainte-Marie.^[3]

Aren is located some 14 km north-west of Oloron-Sainte-Marie immediately south of Saucède. The commune is divided into two portions - the eastern portion contains the village and is bordered in the north and east by the Gave d'Oloron. This portion is connected to the western part located to the west of the Joos river by the D325 road (which is part of the commune). Access to the commune is by the D936 road which crosses the "neck" of the commune and connects to the D325 road which goes east to the village. The D59 road also goes from the village south-west to Saint-Goin. The D25 also connects the "neck" of the commune to Préchacq-Josbaig in the north and crosses the Gave-d'Oleron north of this village - the nearest river crossing to the commune.^[4] The eastern portion of the commune consists of the village and farmland. The western portion, which has no hamlets, is heavily forested with some 30% of farmland.

Aren was part of the former arrondissement which grouped together the communes of Aren, Esquiule, Géronce, Geüs-d'Oloron, Orin, Préchacq-Josbaig, and Saint-Goin.^[5]

The commune lies in the Drainage basin of the Adour and the Gave d'Oloron flows from south to north then turns east at the northern border of the commune. The Joos river flows north across the "neck" of the commune and joins the Gave-d'Oloron north of Prechacq-Josbaig. In the western portion of the commune numerous streams rise including the Ibarle and the Larribau which all flow north eventually to join the Gave d'Oloron.

The commune name in béarnais is also Aren. Brigitte Jobbé-Duval^[6] indicated that the toponym Aren probably means domain of Arrius, the name of a former owner, who Michel Grosclaude called Arennius.^[7]

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)^[5]
• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)^[7]
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750^[8]

Origins:

• Oloron: Cartulary of Oloron^[9]
• Census: Census of Béarn^[10]
• Insinuations: Insinuations of the Diocese of Oloron^[11]
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn^[12]

Paul Raymond noted on page 9 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 Aren had 23 fires and depended on the bailiwick of Oloron. The barony, which was established in 1658, was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn.^[5]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2021)

List of Successive Mayors^[13]

The town is part of four inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté de communes du Haut Béarn;
• the AEP association of Aren-Préchacq-Josbaig;
• the energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
• the mixed association for oak forestry in the Basque and Béarn valleys.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arenais or Arenaises in French.^[14]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 337 —     1800 339 +0.08% 1806 358 +0.91% 1821 391 +0.59% 1831 320 −1.98% 1836 345 +1.52% 1841 356 +0.63% 1846 385 +1.58% 1851 368 −0.90% 1856 378 +0.54% 1861 322 −3.16% 1866 300 −1.41%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1872 270 −1.74% 1876 283 +1.18% 1881 300 +1.17% 1886 301 +0.07% 1891 298 −0.20% 1896 286 −0.82% 1901 282 −0.28% 1906 279 −0.21% 1911 283 +0.29% 1921 270 −0.47% 1926 253 −1.29% 1931 220 −2.76%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 218 −0.18% 1946 211 −0.33% 1954 202 −0.54% 1962 175 −1.78% 1968 154 −2.11% 1975 143 −1.05% 1982 158 +1.44% 1990 185 +1.99% 1999 180 −0.30% 2007 189 +0.61% 2012 244 +5.24% 2017 246 +0.16%
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Source: EHESS[15] and INSEE (1968-2017)[16]

Economic activity is mainly agricultural (livestock, pasturage, polyculture). The town is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone designation of Ossau-iraty.

The patron saint of Aren is John the Baptist.

A village festival takes place on the last Sunday of June .

The Chateau of Aren (15th century) is registered as an historical monument.^[17]

There are several old houses in the village which were counted in the census of Gaston Fébus in 1385 called Ploo, Carrere, and Paletz. Under the Viscounts of Béarn the inhabitants of Jaca were relocated to the commune and the mode of construction of the houses, uniquely in the Josbaig Valley, is similar to the Canfrance region and Jaca.^[18]

The Church of Saint John the Baptist (19th century) is registered as an historical monument.^[19]

The hiking trail GR78 crosses the territory of the commune.^[20]

• Aren Stinger

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aren.

• Aren on the 1750 Cassini Map