The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.[3]
Geography
Bilingual sign at AscainAutumn colours on the Nivelle at AscainThe Roman bridge
Ascain is part of the urban area of Bayonne in the traditional Basque province of Labourd 13 km east of Irun and 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the Atlantic Ocean in the western foothills of the Pyrenees. The southern tip of the commune touches the border with Spain at the peak of Larrun mountain. Access to the commune is by the D4 road from Urrugne in the north-west coming into the commune from the west then passing through the town and continuing south-east to Sare. The D918 also comes from Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the north and passes through the north of the commune between two urban areas and continuing east to Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle. Some 30% of the commune is residential with some small forests in the north and farmland mostly in the south with some farms in the north.[4]
The summit of Larrun, a mountain iconic of the Basque country, is situated approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) south of the town at the southern tip of the commune on the border with Spain. The summit can be reached by the Petit train de la Rhune, which commences from the Col de Saint-Ignace, 4 km (2.5 mi) to the east of the town outside the commune on the D4 road to Sare.
The Interurban Network of Pyrénées-Atlantiques bus line has two stops in the commune: one for Route 863 which runs from Hasparren to Saint-Jean-de-Luz; and Route 858 between Sare and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
The Nivelle river flows through the north of the commune flowing towards the west parallel to the D918 on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. Several tributaries rise in the south of the commune and flow north, gathering many more tributaries, into the Nivelle. These streams include the Aniberreko Erreka, the Galardiko Erreka, and the Arraioko Erreka. The Larrunko Erreka forms the south-western border of the commune as it flows north then west to join the Intsolako Erreka which continues north to join the Aniberreko Erreka.[4]
In 1609 Councillor Pierre de Lancre intervened in French Basque Country at the head of a commission of inquiry demanded by Henri IV. The commission was to "purge the country of all sorcerers and sorceresses under the influence of demons". The priest of Ascain was degraded then burned.[20]
The Bishop of Bayonne, Jean VI de Sossiondo, built a large house called "Askunda" here during the middle of the 16th century, which can still be seen.
In 1794, at the height of The Terror and after the desertion of 47 young people from Itxassou, the Committee of Public Safety (Decree of 13 Ventôse Year II - 3 March 1794) arrested and deported some of the men, women, and children from Ainhoa, Ascain, Espelette, Itxassou, Sare, and Souraïde; and declared the commune, as for other communes near the Spanish border, a "Notorious commune".[21] This measure was also extended to Biriatou, Cambo, Larressore, Louhossoa, Mendionde, and Macaye.
The return of the exiles and the recovery of their properties were determined by a series of decrees issued on 29 September and 1 October 1794 - driven in this direction by the Director of Ustaritz: "The former communes of Sare, Itxassou, Ascain, Biriatou, and Serres, whose inhabitants have been interned for eight months as a measure of general security people have not been able to farm. The people who wish to obtain freedom to retire to their homes are clamouring for food without us being able to provide them with the means to fulfil this first human need, hunger".[24] The recovery of property was not done without difficulty: their properties had been sequestered but were not registered and so were looted: "Movable and immovable property of the inhabitants of Sare, were neither legally recognized nor disclosed; all our furniture and household effects were removed and brought confusedly to neighbouring communes. Instead of putting them in safe places, some were sold at auction or to any other party without auction".[25]
Heraldry
Arms of Ascain
The arms were adopted by the commune on 26 June 1988.
Blazon: Or, an oak Vert terraced in base the same, fruited in Or and trunked proper all debruised by a boar armed Argent bordure of Gules charged with 8 small saltires couped of Or.
These arms were registered for the first time on 5 July 1405 by Juan Martinez de Agorreta y Ascain, Lord of Agorreta and Ascain, who married Princess Leonor Tocco de Acciaioli, from the Florence House of Acciaioli.[26][circular reference][27]
Roman bridge on the Nivelle (5th century).[33] It was rebuilt after the collapse of the central pier caused by flooding of the Nivelle in December 1994.
The two redoubts were part of the defence by Marshal Soult of the Franco-Spanish border against the British Army under Wellington in 1813.
In 1947 the village erected the first Stèle des évadés de France (Stele of escapees of France) in memory of the resistance fighters who left France to join the Free French Forces via Spain during the Second World War.
The Church of the Assumption[34] has some medieval remains. It was enlarged in the 16th and 17th centuries and was inaugurated under Louis XIII in 1626. In 1605 Monseigneur Bertrand d'Etchaux, Bishop of Bayonne, visited the parish of Ascain and permitted "the said parishioners of the said parish to sell or dispose of the tombs that seem good in favour of the proceeds of the sale"... (be used for) ..."the keeping, repair, and completion of the work on the church".[35]
Inside the church is a Statue of the Virgin and Child[36] which is a cast of a statue from the 14th century: the original in marble, called the Virgin of Longchamp, is preserved in the Musée national du Moyen Âge (National Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris. Tombstones in pink sandstone from Larrun cover the grounds.
Church of the Assumption at Ascain
Modern Virgin
Plaque in pink sandstone from Larrun dating to 1648
Nicolas François Conroux, born in 1770 at Douai (Nord) and died in 1813 at St Esprit), was a French General, Baron of Pépinville, mortally wounded at Ascain;
Jean Hirigoyen Larroque, born at Ascain in 1788, father of Martin Hirigoyen Dolagaray (1821-1888) who emigrated to Argentina and was the father of Hipólito Yrigoyen Alem, twice president of Argentina.
José Revilla Haya, born at Madrid of a basque family in 1864 and died at Ascain in 1955, Mining engineer and geologist.
Jean-Pierre Borda, called Otharré, born at Ascain in 1866 and died in 1922, was a basque pelota player in rebot and bare hands. Friend of Pierre Loti, he was inspired by one of the characters in the novel Ramuntcho, which was written at the Hotel de la Rhune.
Ernest Fourneau, born at Biarritz in 1872, died at Ascain in 1949, was the founder of French Medicinal chemistry.
Ferdinand Pinney Earle (1878-1951) was a famous Hollywood cinema decorator in the 1910s and 1920s. In 1930 he moved to Ascain and built a house shaped like a revolver reminiscent of adobe houses built in Santa Fe around 1920.
Jean Élissalde, born at Ascain in 1883 and died at Gréciette in 1961, was a writer, Catholic priest, poet, and basque academic.
Marie-Louise Osorio, from Ascain, was a bertsolari, famous for her duet with Pierre Ibarrart in 1869.[41]
Maurice Abeberry born at Biarritz in 1926 and died at Ascain in 1988, was a doctor of law, lawyer, sports administrator, and music-lover;
Léon Berho born on 4 June 1932 at Ascain and died at Dax in October 2011, was a rugby union player, finalist in the championship of France in 1961, 1963, and 1966 with US Dax;
Jacques Chaban-Delmas, born in 1915 at Paris and died in 2000 at Paris, was Mayor of Bordeaux, Prime Minister, Honorary President of the National Assembly, General of the Resistance, buried in the cemetery at Ascain where he had a second home.
^Eugène Goyheneche, Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Basse-Navarre, Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales et de diffusion, Pau, 1979, bnf FRBNF34647711, p. 583 (in French)
^Pierre Lhande, Dictionnaire basque-français, 1926. (in French)
^Manuscript from the 14th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
^Chapter of Bayonne in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
^Titles of Labourd in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
^Manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
^Philippe Veyrin, The Basques, Arthaud, 1975, ISBN2 7003 0038 6, page 249 (in French)
^Philippe Veyrin, The Basques, Arthaud, 1975, ISBN2 7003 0038 6, page 187 (in French)
^National Archives, AF II 133/1014, cited by Manex Goyhenetche in General History of Basque Country, Vol. 4, Elkarlanean, 2002, ISBN2 9131 5646 0, page 300 (in French)
^The Mayor and the Municipal Officer of Capbreton demanded the consignment by courier of the letter shown below (text transcribed by P. Haristoy, The Parishes of Basque Country during the Revolutionary period, Pau, Vignancour, 1895-1901, pages 256-257 (in French)) on 24 ventôse Year II (14 March 1794) for the 229 detainees under their protection:
1) How much bread to give to each man (we have no bread so it does not matter)?
2) Can we allow them to purchase wine or other provisions?
3) We note that we have no meat;
4) Can we allow them to have a light at night from a lantern?
5) Can we allow them to have mats or mattresses? We have provided them with straw to sleep;
6) Can we allow them out two-by-two to wash their clothes?
7) If they are sick, are we authorised to take them out of the detention house to show the others that they are to be treated?
^National Archives, F11/394, 18 vendémiaire Year III (9 October 1794), cited by Manex Goyhenetche in General History of Basque Country, Vol. 4, Elkarlanean, 2002, ISBN2 9131 5646 0, page 309 (in French)
^Bulletin of the Society of sciences, letters and arts of Bayonne, 1935, pages 67 to 70, and The Parishes of Basque Country, page 263, Gure Herria, 1930-1932: Sources cited by Manex Goyhenetche in General History of Basque Country, Vol. 4, Elkarlanean, 2002, ISBN2 9131 5646 0, page 310 (in French)
^Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, III E 9744, cited by Manex Goyhenetche in his General History of Basque Country, Vol. 3, Elkarlanean, 2001, ISBN2 9131 5634 7, page 116 (in French)
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