Orthez

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Administration
Commune of Orthez Bridge over the Gave de Pau in Orthez
Location
Longitude	0°46'11" W
Latitude	43°29'21" N
Country	France
Région	Aquitaine
Département	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Orthez (chief town)
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes du canton d'Orthez
Mayor	Thierry Issartel (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	38 m–185 m (avg. 62 m)
Land area¹	45.86 km²
Population² (1999)	10,121
- Density (1999)	221/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	64430/ 64300
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Orthez (or Ortès in Occitan) is a commune (town/community) and the chief town of a canton of south-western France, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département and in the region of Aquitaine, 40km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sainte-Suzanne thus residents of the town are called either Orthéziens or Sainte-Suzannais. The population figures from 1999 give the population of the commune at 10,121 and of the canton at 16,168. In 1906, the town had 4,159 and the commune had 6,254.

1 Administration
2 Geography
3 Sights
4 Economy
5 History
6 Locale
7 Reference
8 External link

[edit] Administration

Orthez has a judicial court but not an appeals court. It was the seat of a subprefecture from 1800 until 1926 (the dates of the creation and abolition of the arrondissement (district) of Orthez).

[edit] Geography

Orthez (43°29′16″N, 0°46′28″W) straddles the westward-flowing Gave de Pau with most of the town proper lying on the right bank. However there are several residential developments and an industrial park on the left bank not to mention Sainte-Suzanne, an integral part of the town. A partially artificial lake called 'Lac de l'y grec' (usually just spelled 'Lac de l'Y' i.e. 'Y Lake') (43°29′52″N, 0°46′9″W) has a pleasant and scenic walking trail.

[edit] Sights

The Gave de Pau is crossed at this point by a 14th century bridge which has four arches and is surmounted at its centre by a tower. Several old houses, and a church of the 12th, 14th and 15th centuries are of some interest, but the most remarkable building is the Tour de Moncade (43°29′31″N, 0°46′13″W), a pentagonal tower of the 13th century, once the keep of a castle of the viscounts of Béarn, and now used as a meteorological observatory. A building of the 17th century is all that remains of the old Calvinist university (see below). The town hall is a modern building containing the library.

[edit] Economy

The spinning and weaving of cotton, especially of the fabric called toile de Béarn, flour-milling, the manufacture of paper and of leather, and the preparation of hams known as jambons de Bayonne and of other delicacies are among its industries. There are quarries of stone and marble in the neighborhood, and the town has a thriving trade in leather, hams and lime.

[edit] History

During the 12th century, Orthez was the capital of Béarn, after Morlaàs and before Pau which is still the prefectural administrative capital. At the end of the 12th century Orthez passed from the possession of the viscounts of Dax to that of the viscounts of Bearn, whose chief place of residence it became in the 13th century. Froissart records the splendour of the court of Orthez under Gaston Phoebus in the latter half of the 14th century. Jeanne d'Albret founded a Calvinist university in the town and Theodore Beza taught there for some time. An envoy sent in 1569 by Charles IX to revive the Catholic faith had to stand a siege in Orthez (battle of Orthez) which was eventually taken by assault by the Protestant/Huguenot captain, Gabriel, count of Montgomery. In 1684 Nicholas Foucault, intendant under Louis XIV, was more successful, as the inhabitants, ostensibly at least, renounced Protestantism, which is nevertheless still strong in the town. Another battle of Orthez occurred during the Napoleonic Wars on February 27, 1814 in which the Duke of Wellington defeated Marshal Soult on the hills to the north of Orthez.

[edit] Locale

	Saint-Boès and Bonnut
Baigts-de-Béarn, Salles-Mongiscard and Lanneplaà	Orthez/Sainte Suzanne	Sallespisse, Balansun and Castétis
	Ozenx-Montestrucq, Laà-Mondrans and Biron