Astis

Astis
View of the village
Astis
Location within Aquitaine region  Astis
Coordinates: 43°26′31″N 0°19′37″W / 43.4419°N 0.3269°WCoordinates: 43°26′31″N 0°19′37″W / 43.4419°N 0.3269°W
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Thèze
Intercommunality	Luys en Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Alain Caïe
Area^1	3.16 km^2 (1.22 sq mi)
Population (2010)^2	303
• Density	96/km^2 (250/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	64070 / 64450
Elevation	160–242 m (525–794 ft) (avg. 234 m or 768 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Astis (Astís in Occitan) is a French commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Aquitaine region of south-western France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Astisiens or Astisiennes.^[1]

Geography

The D834 at Astis

Astis is located some 20 km north of Pau and some 4 km south of Miossens-Lanusse. Access to the commune is by road D834 (Route de Bordeaux) from Pau entering the commune from the south-west passing through the village and continuing north to Sarron. The D39 road (Route de Morlaas) branches off the D834 in the north of the commune and goes south-east to Anos. The commune has a strip of forest along the length of the commune from north-west to south-east, parallel to the Route de Morlaas with the rest of the commune farmland.^[2]

The Luy de France forms the eastern border of the commune as it flows north eventually joining the Luy de Béarn and becoming the Luy river on the eastern border of Castel-Sarrazin commune. The Basta river rises in the south of the commune and flows north-west joining the Luy de France north of the commune.^[2]

Places and hamlets^[3]

• Anos^[4]
• Baradat^[5]
• Bernadot
• La Caserne
• Château^[6]
• Chinchin
• Dibet
• Guichanné
• Jacoulet
• Lamazou^[7]
• Nabarrot
• Pascal
• Plantié
• Sarrette
• Sarthoulet
• Sébat
• Tauhuré

Neighbouring communes and villages^[2]

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is also Astis. Michel Grosclaude proposed a Gascon etymology es (an old definitive article) followed by t(h)in ("Dependence") or tin ("singer").^[8]

The following table details the origins of the commune name:

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Astis	Estis	1385	Raymond	16	Census	Village
	Astis	1750	Cassini		Cassini Map

Sources

• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (French)^[9]
• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (French)^[8]
• Census: Census of Béarn^[10]
• Cassini Map: Cassini Map from 1750^[11]

Administration

Astis Town Hall

List of Successive Mayors^[12]

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1790	1809	Jean Sabat
1809	1815	Jean Larrieu
1815	1828	Joseph Hondagne
1828	1830	Bernard Lamazou
1830	1868	Pierre Lamazou
1868	1871	Jean Larrieu
1871	1872	Félix Binde
1872	1878	Jean Larrieu Chinchin
1878	1919	Jean Lamazou
1919	1929	Jean Sebat
1929	1935	Julien Lamazou
1935	1944	Raymond Guichane
1944	1945	Julien Lamazou
1945	1959	Pierre Larrieu Bourdale
1959	1989	Albert Lafitte
1989	2014	Pierrette Barzu
2014	2020	Alain Caïe

(Not all data is known)

Inter-communality

Recycling centre at Astis

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:^[13]

• the Community of communes of Luys en Béarn;
• the AEP association of the regions of Luy and Gabas;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
• the scholastic association Argelos-Astis;

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 303 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1]}

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
157	97	-	175	215	232	222	225	220

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
220	227	213	170	166	180	180	193	189

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
190	171	167	154	140	128	139	119	108

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2010	-
111	101	98	163	198	266	292	303	-

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

• A Chateau (19th century)^[6]
• The Maison Mouras Farmhouse (1771)^[4]
• A Farmhouse at Lamazou (1646)^[7]
• The Maison Larrieu Farmhouse (17th century)^[14]
• The Maison Lassus Farmhouse (1894)^[5]
• Houses and Farms (17th-19th centuries)^[15]
• A Fortified Complex (Prehistoric)^[16]

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint John the Baptist

The Church of Saint John the Baptist (12th century) is registered as a historical monument.^[17]

The Church contains many items that are registered as historical objects:

• A Bronze Bell (1591)^[18]
• Furniture in the Church^[19][20]
• A Bronze Bell in the bell tower (1591)^[21]
• A Ciborium (19th century)^[22]
• 2 Altar Candlesticks (19th century)^[23]
• 2 Altar Candlesticks (19th century)^[24]
• 2 Altar Candlesticks (torch bodies) (19th century)^[25]
• A Painting: Saint John in the desert (18th century)^[26]
• A Worship bench (19th century)^[27]
• Baptismal fonts (19th century)^[28]
• 2 Statues: Saint Peter & Saint John (18th century)^[29]
• Bas-relief: Christ on the cross between Saint Madeleine & Saint John (18th century)^[30]
• A Retable (18th century)^[31]
• Altar seating and Tabernacle (18th century)^[32]
• Main Altar Seating, Tabernacle, and Retable^[33]

Facilities

The School

Astis has a primary school which is shared with Argelos as an inter-communal educational grouping.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

External links

• Community of communes of Luys en Béarn (French)
• Astis on Google Maps
• Astis on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (French)
• Astis on the 1750 Cassini Map
• Astis on the INSEE website (French)
• INSEE (French)

Notes and references

Notes

1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

1. Inhabitants of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French)
2. Google Maps
3. Géoportail, IGN (French)
4. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026710 Maison Mourras (French)
5. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026707 Maison Lassus (French)
6. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00027386 Chateau (French)
7. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026709 Farmhouse at Lamazou (French)
8. Michel Grosclaude, Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages, ISBN 2 35068 005 3 (French)
9. Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 (French)
10. Manuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (French)
11. Cassini Map 1750 - Asson
12. List of Mayors of France (French)
13. Intercommunality of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Cellule informatique préfecture 64, consulted on 2 March 2012 (French)
14. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026708 Maison Larrieu (French)
15. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026706 Houses and Farms (French)
16. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026705 Fortified complex (French)
17. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA00026704 Church of Saint John the Baptist (French)
18. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64000058 Bronze bell (French)
19. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001162 Furniture (French)
20. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001148 2 Altar Candlesticks (French)
21. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001161 Bronze Bell in the bell tower (French)
22. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001160 Ciborium (French)
23. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001159 2 Altar Candlesticks (French)
24. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001158 2 Altar Candlesticks (French)
25. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001157 2 Altar Candlesticks (torch bodies) (French)
26. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001156 Painting: Saint John in the desert (French)
27. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001155 Worship bench (French)
28. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001154 Baptismal fonts (French)
29. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001153 2 Statues: Saint Peter & Saint John (French)
30. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001152 Bas-relief: Christ on the cross between Saint Madeleine & Saint John (French)
31. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001151 Retable (French)
32. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001150 Altar seating and tabernacle (French)
33. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM64001149 Main Altar Seating, Tabernacle, and Retable (French)