Bazas
Encyclopedia
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
department in southwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the Beuve valley 60 km/37 mi southeast of BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
and 40 km/25 mi southwest of Marmande
Marmande
Marmande is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne département in south-western France.-Geography:Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the southern railway from Bordeaux to Sète. The town is situated at the confluence of the Trec with the Garonne on the right bank of the latter river, which...
.
History
The town was the seat of a bishopAncient Diocese of Bazas
The Diocese of Bazas, centred on Bazas in Aquitaine, covered the Bazadais region, known under the Romans as the Vasatensis pagus after the ancient occupants, the Vasates. In the 2nd century it was part of the Novempopulania, one of the seventeen provinces of Gaul...
from at least the beginning of the 6th century till 1790.
According to Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
, Bazas had a bishop at the time of the Vandal
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
invasion in the 5th century.
The dedication of the cathedral to St. John the Baptist is explained in an account given by the same historian that a lady of Bazas, whom certain hagiographers of the 19th century believe to have been St. Veronica, brought from Palestine a relic of St. John the Baptist at the time of that saint's death.
For 250 years prior to 1057, the Bishop of Bazas bore the title of Bishop of Aire
Aire-sur-l'Adour
Aire-sur-l'Adour is a commune in the Landes département in Aquitaine in south-western France.It lies on the river Adour in the wine area of southwest France. It is an episcopal see of the Diocese of Aire and Dax. The nearest large towns are Mont-de-Marsan to the north and Pau to the...
, Dax
Dax, Landes
Dax is a commune in Aquitaine in south-western France, sub-prefecture of the Landes department.It is particularly famous as a spa, specialising in mud treatment for rheumatism and similar ailments....
, Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
, Oloron
Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Oloron-Sainte-Marie is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. The town of Oloron-Sante-Marie is positioned at the junction of two rivers and has a population of approximately 12,000. While not spectacular, it is a pleasant looking town, with an ancient quarter,...
and Lescar
Lescar
Lescar is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.Lescar is the site of the Roman city known variously as Benearnum, Beneharnum or Civitas Benarnensium. This was the original capital, and origin of the name, of the ancient province of Béarn.In 841, Benearnum was...
.
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II , born Otho de Lagery , was Pope from 12 March 1088 until his death on July 29 1099...
(1088–99) preached the crusade at Bazas.
Bazas was a subprefecture until 1923, when it lost this role to Langon
Langon, Gironde
Langon is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Geography:Langon is in the southern part of the department southeast of Bordeaux on the left bank of the Garonne river...
.
Population
Sights
The town has a Gothic cathedral dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries, now part of Unesco's heritage sights. There are remains of ramparts (15th and 16th centuries) and several old houses of the 16th century. (Photo:http://infopuq.uquebec.ca/~uss1010/orgues/france/bazassjb2.jpg)
Saturday morning markets are well worth seeing.
The area is also home to the Clementin Castles, built by Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V, born Raymond Bertrand de Got was Pope from 1305 to his death...
for himself and his family. You can visit around Bazas:
- Chateau de Roquetaillade
- Chateau de Villandraut
- Chateau de Fargues.
- Chateau de Cazeneuve
Economy
The vineyards of the vicinity produce white wine. The town carries on tanning and trade in the well-known Bazadais cattle.Transport
Bazas is by-passed by the Route nationale 524 (N524). The N524 forms part of the Itinéraire à Grand GabaritItinéraire à Grand Gabarit
The Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit is a water and road route that has been created in order to allow the transport of the outsize structural sections of the Airbus A380 airliner from their point of manufacture to Toulouse for final assembly. The route was largely created by modifying existing waterways...
, a route which has been modified to allow its use by the oversize road convoys conveying body sections and wings of the Airbus A380 airliner
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. Due to its size, many airports had to modify and improve facilities to accommodate it...
, and several upgrades were made made to the road through Bazas to this end.