Espelette

Espelette (Basque: Ezpeleta, Occitan: Espeleta) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It lies in the traditional Basque province of Labourd.

Espelette

Ezpeleta
Commune
The church of Saint-Étienne
Coat of arms
Location of Espelette
Espelette
Espelette
Coordinates: 43°20′29″N 1°26′47″W
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentPyrénées-Atlantiques
ArrondissementBayonne
CantonBaïgura et Mondarrain
IntercommunalityCA Pays Basque
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Jean-Marie Iputcha
Area
1
26.85 km2 (10.37 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
2,024
 • Density75/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
64213 /64250
Elevation33–749 m (108–2,457 ft)
(avg. 77 m or 253 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Sights

The town is attractive, with traditional Labourd houses and a castle. The protected sixteenth-century church, Saint-Etienne, has a Baroque altarpiece, and its graveyard has many traditional Basque discoidal tombstones. There is also the grave of local woman Agnès Souret, the first woman ever chosen as Miss France, in 1920. She died in Argentina aged 26 in 1928, and her body was repatriated to Espelette by her mother, who sold most of her possessions to provide a resting place for her daughter.

Red peppers

Espelette is known for its dried red peppers, used whole or ground to a hot powder, used in the production of Bayonne ham. The peppers are designated as Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée and are hung to dry outside many of the houses and shops in the village during the summer. The peppers are sold in the town's Wednesday covered market and are honoured in a festival on the last Sunday in October.

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  • Traditional Espelette house with peppers drying on the walls
  • Piments d'Espelette, Espelette peppers
  • Plaque of WWF in front of Father Armand David's birth house, inaugurated by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray in Espelette.



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