Espelette

Espelette
Espelette
Location within Aquitaine region Espelette
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Bayonne
Canton	Espelette
Intercommunality	Errobi
Government
• Mayor (2006–2008)	Florence Gracie
Area1	26.85 km2 (10.37 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	1,987
• Density	74/km2 (190/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	64213 / 64250
Elevation	33–749 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. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

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.

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

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

• INSEE commune file

External links

• (Spanish) Ezpeleta in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa — Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
• (French) Piment d'Espelette, site dedicated to the pepper

• 

  Traditional Espelette house with peppers drying on the walls

• 

  Piments d'Espelette, Espelette peppers