43º50N 1º48W, pop (2002e) 40 400. City in the Pays Basque region, SW France; large port on the Adour estuary, located in the foothills of the Pyrenees, on the Atlantic coast; most westerly route into Spain; formerly part of Aquitaine (13th-c) that came under British rule following the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry Plantagenet; Aquitaine returned to France after the Hundred Years' War; city declined with loss of British trade but recovered in 18th-c; famous for the invention of the bayonette used by French infantry since 1703; birthplace of Léon Bonnat, Michel Camdessus, René Cassin; important commercial centre; petro-chemicals industry, chocolate; bullfighting (the longest established in France); Musée Bonnat; ham festival (Easter), theatre and jazz festival (Aug).
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Commune of Bayonne View of Grand Bayonne across the Adour |
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| Location | |
| Coordinates | 43°29′37″N, 1°28′30″W |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Région | Aquitaine |
| Département |
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (sous-préfecture) |
| Arrondissement | Bayonne |
| Canton | Chief town of 3 cantons |
| Intercommunality |
Communauté d'agglomération de Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz |
| Mayor |
Jean Grenet (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude |
0 m–85 m (avg. 4 m) |
| Land area¹ | 21.68 km² |
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Population² (July 1, 2004 estimate) (March 8, 1999 census) |
44,300 40,078 |
| - Density (2004) | 2,043/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 64 102/ 64100 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > | |
Bayonne (French: Bayonne, pronounced /bajɔn/;
Together with nearby Anglet, Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and several smaller communes, Bayonne forms an urban area with 178,965 inhabitants at the 1999 census, 40,078 of whom lived in the city of Bayonne proper (44,300 as of 2004 estimates).
The communes of Bayonne, Biarritz, and Anglet have joined into an intercommunal entity called the Communauté d'agglomération de Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz.
Bayonne is the main town of Labourd in the French Basque Country. Bayonne (from basque bai "river") became a key place on the route between the Adour and Ebro Rivers, which served as a kind of link between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Its importance waned somewhat when the French king, Charles VII, took the city at the end of the Hundred Years' War and the Adour changed course shortly afterwards, leaving Bayonne without its access to the sea. The French, however, realised Bayonne's strategic site near the Spanish border and in 1578 dug a canal to redirect the river through the city once again.
Bayonne endured numerous sieges from Plantagenet times until the end of the First French Empire in 1814.
Bayonne's location close to the border, but also within the Basque Country straddling both France and Spain, gave it an often privileged position in commerce. Spanish Basques also sought refuge in Bayonne in the 20th century during Francisco Franco's repression, with Petit Bayonne still a centre of Basque nationalism.
By the mid-19th century, Bayonne had declined somewhat with the centralisation of power to Paris and to the new département capital, non-Basque Pau, after the 1789 French Revolution, and with Wellington's bombardment.
Description
The Nive divides Bayonne into Grand Bayonne and Petit Bayonne, with five bridges between the two, both quarters still backed by Vauban's walls. The Pont St-Esprit connects Petit Bayonne with the Quartier St-Esprit across the Adour, where the massive Citadelle and the railway station are located.
Grand Bayonne is the commercial and civic hub, with small pedestrianised streets packed with shops, plus the cathedral and Hôtel de Ville.
Petit Bayonne is lively with Basque bars and restaurants more reminiscent of cities the other side of the Pyrenees.
Culture and sport
Bayonne has the longest tradition of bull-fighting in France and there is a ring beyond the walls of Grand Bayonne. Bull-fighting is a major part of the five-day Fêtes de Bayonne which starts on the first Wednesday of August and attracts people from across the Basque Country and beyond.
There are also important festivals of Jazz (July), Bayonne ham (Holy Week), theatre and pelota (the Basque sport).
Economy and products
Bayonne is known for its fine chocolates, produced in the town for 500 years, and Bayonne ham, a cured ham seasoned with peppers from nearby Espelette. It is said by some that Bayonne is the birthplace of mayonnaise, supposedly a corruption of Bayonnaise, the French adjective describing the city's people and produce.
Bayonne is now the centre of certain craft industries that were once widespread, including the manufacture of makilas, traditional Basque walking-sticks. In the late 20th century, the processing of by-products from the Lacq natural gas field near Pau became important, although Bayonne has had higher-than-average unemployment.
Communications
Bayonne is on the high-speed TGV line between Paris and Hendaye for connections with Spain. The city is near the intersection between the A63 Autoroute between Bordeaux and the Spanish border and the A64 from Bayonne to Toulouse.
Bayonne has airport Aéroport de Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne, its 6 km away from the city towards Anglet .Its just opposite of N10 road.
Famous residents
Bayonne was the birthplace of:
Dominique Joseph Garat (1749-1833), writer and politician François Cabarrus (1752-1810), adventurer and Spanish financier, father of Madame Tallien Jacques Laffitte (1767-1844), banker and politician Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850), classical liberal author and political economist Léon Bonnat (1833-1922), painter René Cassin (1887-1976), jurist and judge, recipient of the 1968 Nobel Peace Prize Michel Camdessus (born 1933), Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1997 to 2000 Didier Deschamps (born 1968), World-Cup-winning footballer Imanol Harinordoquy (born 1980), French international rugby player Anthony Dupuis (born 1973), professional tennis playerCivic information
The Mayor of Bayonne (1995-2007) is Jean Grenet of the centre-right UMP.
Bayonne's twin towns are:
Pamplona, Navarra, Spain Daytona Beach, Florida, United States Bayonne, New Jersey, United States
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