Bagnères-de-Bigorre (, literally Bagnères of Bigorre; ) is a commune and subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées Department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France.

Name

The town was known in antiquity as (Latin for "watery neighborhood") and in the Middle Ages as

|width=auto

|Centre = Bagnères-de-Bigorre

|North = Hauban

|Northeast = Bettes

|East = Lies

|Southeast = Gerde

|South = Vielle-Aure

|Southwest = Barèges

|West = Labassère

|Northwest = Pouzac

History

Antiquity

Bigorre was conquered by the Roman general Julius Caesar in 56 BCE and incorporated into the province of Gallia Aquitania. Valerius Messala stamped out the last pockets of tribal resistance in 28 BC at a victory over the Campani on a hill in Pouzac. cited by the town's official website. In the 4th-century reforms, the area around Vicus Aquensis became Aquitania Tertia or Novempopulana. It was sacked by the Visigoths amid the Barbarian Invasions.

Middle Ages

The Visigoths in the area were displaced by the Franks following their defeat at the AD 507 Battle of Vouillé, but there are no documents or remains from the area to provide guidance on local history until 1171. Archaeologists have proposed that the city was destroyed at some point by an earthquake and abandoned following a plague outbreak in 580.

{| class="wikitable"

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! From !! To !! Name

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| 1781 || 1784 || Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Pambrun

|-

| 1787 || 1790 || Dumoret

|-

| 1790 || 1791 || Lebrun

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| 1790 || 1790 || de Cazebonne

|-

| 1791 || 1792 || Etienne Xavier Salaignac

|-

| 1792 || 1794 || Pierre Guchan

|-

| 1794 || 1795 || Jean-Louis Rousse

|-

| 1795 || 1795 || Bonnet

|-

| 1795 || 1795 || Dabbadie

|-

| 1795 || 1797 || Jean-Jacques Gaye

|-

| 1797 || 1799 || Dussert

|-

| 1799 || 1799 || Jean-Jacques Gaye

|-

| 1799 || 1800 || Costallat

|-

| 1800 || 1801 || Jean-Marie Sarrabeyrouse

|-

| 1801 || 1806 || Etienne Louis Salaignac

|-

| 1806 || 1806 || Piera

|-

| 1806 || 1815 || Paul Alexandre de Joulas

|-

| 1815 || 1816 || Bertrand Pinac

|-

| 1816 || 1817 || Achille d'Uzer

|-

| 1817 || 1830 || Jean Alexandre Duffourc d'Antist

|-

| 1830 || 1831 || Jean-Pierre Dumont

|-

| 1831 || 1835 || Aristide Lasserre

|-

| 1835 || 1835 || Jean-Pierre Dumont

|-

| 1835 || 1838 || Aristide Lasserre

|-

| 1838 || 1842 || Louis Dumoret

|-

| 1842 || 1848 || Jean-Baptiste Dauphole

|-

| 1848 || 1848 || François Soubies

|-

| 1848 || 1848 || Ariste Pambrun

|-

| 1848 || 1870 || Clément Cyprien d'Uzer

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| 1870 || 1871 || Mathieu Gaye

|-

| 1871 || 1873 || Jean-Jacques Dumoret

|-

| 1873 || 1881 || Dominique Jean-Marie Cardailhac

|-

| 1884 || 1889 || Robert de Puysegur

|-

| 1889 || 1901 || Jean-Marie Dejeanne

|-

| 1901 || 1912 || Bertrand Fortassin

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| 1912 || 1914 || Louis Lafforgue

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| 1914 || 1915 || Jean Lhez

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| 1915 || 1918 || Jean-Marie Cougombles

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| 1918 || 1919 || Jean Lhez

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| 1919 || 1935 || Prosper Nogues

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| 1935 || 1941 || Henri Suberbie

|}

;Mayors from 1941

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! From !! To !! Name

|-

| 1941 || 1944 || René Sühner

|-

| 1944 || 1945 || Joseph Domec

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| 1945 || 1958 || Joseph Meynier

|-

| 1958 || 1965 || Raymond Compagnet

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| 1965 || 1977 || André de Boysson

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| 1977 || 1989 || Eugène Toujas

|-

| 1989 || 2013 || Rolland Castells

|-

| 2013 || 2020 || Jean Bernard Sempastous

|-

| 2020 || 2026 || Claude Cazabat

|}

Twinning

Bagnères-de-Bigorre has twinning associations with:

  • Alhama de Granada (Spain) since 1995.
  • Granarolo dell'Emilia (Italy) since 1985.
  • Malvern (England) since 2016.
  • Tutzing (Germany) since 1975.
  • Inverurie (Scotland) Since 2016.

Intercommunality

The Community of communes of Haute-Bigorre (CCHB) was created in December 1994 to support joint development projects. It has been allocated a general grant for operations by the State and large grants by the General Council, the Regional Council, the State, and by Europe.

Its skills are in:

  • Economic development (businesses, trades, commercial fabrics...);
  • Services to the elderly, children, and the disabled;
  • Protection and enhancement of the environment;
  • Selective waste collection;
  • Housing and living Environment policy;
  • Land development;
  • Tourism.

Health

Bagnères-de-Bigorre has a regional hospital which has 25 beds for medicine, 20 beds for longer stays (4 of aftercare for alcohol withdrawal), and 220 beds for rehabilitation and physical medicine (25 places for day hospitalization). On the Castelmouly site (accommodation for the dependent elderly) the capacity is 142 beds plus 2 temporary, 36 long-stay beds, and 8 day care places for people with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders. The town also has a famous thermal baths.

Education

Schools in the commune are in the school district of the Academy of Toulouse.

The commune has three kindergartens (Clair Vallon, Carnot, and Achard), and six elementary schools (Calandreta of Banhèras (Occitan School), Jules Ferry, Pic du Midi, Carnot, Lesponne, les Palomières, and Saint Vincent).

The General Council manages the Colleges of Blanche Odin (formerly city school Achard) and Saint Vincent while the region supports the Victor Duruy high school.

Demography

Economy

The economy of Bagnères-de-Bigorre is mainly in the secondary sector, at one time including railway materials, but Hydrotherapy and tourism are the main activities in the commune.

Industries

Today there are many SMEs and SMIs specializing in electrical equipment, mechanical, and aerospace industries located in the commune.

There are Four commercial zones of activity:

  • The Dominique Soulé Business Park: an area of over 11 hectares with 14 companies (400 jobs). The main companies are:
  • CFD Bagnères (formerly Constructions Ferroviaires de Bagnères ex Soulé),
  • Novexia,
  • Pommier,
  • Nouvelle Bagnères Aéro,
  • Protoplane – Avenir Composites,
  • Bigorre Ingénierie.
  • The Adour Industrial Zone: an area of around 16 hectares with 23 companies (280 jobs). The main companies are:
  • Electraline CBB,
  • Adour Industries,
  • Duteil Arnauné sas,
  • Spem Aero,
  • Industrial Cabling Installations Pyrenees (MCIP).
  • The Haute-Bigorre Business park: an area of over 4 hectares with 9 companies (70 jobs). The main companies are:
  • Areva T & D,
  • Amare Charpentes,
  • Chaussons Matériaux,
  • Adour Prothèses,
  • Entreprise AOD
  • The Haute-Bigorre Industrial Park: an area of more than 3 hectares with 3 companies (70 jobs). The main companies are:
  • ABB Soulé Surge Protection – Hélita,
  • Mang Metal Industries.

Hydrotherapy and tourism

The Grands Thermes de Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Grand Thermal Baths of Bagnères-de-Bigorre) are traditionally employed for treatment of rheumatism, nervous afflictions, indigestion, and other maladies. The naturally-sourced waters vary in temperature from .

Like most thermal cities, Bagnères-de-Bigorre has a casino. It is in the same building with the Aquensis thermal spa. The ski resort of La Mongie is also nearby.

;Thermalism and tourism gallery

<gallery>

File:Bagneres de Bigorre (Ulpiano Checa) 03.jpg|A Poster by Ulpiano Checa

File:Casino de Bagnères-de-Bigorre.JPG|Building housing the Casino and Aquensis.

File:La Mongie ski resort - The village.jpg|Winter Ski station of Tourmalet.

</gallery>

Transport

Access to the commune is by the D935 roads from Tarbes which passes through the north-eastern tip of the commune and the town before continuing southeast to Beaudéan. The D938 branches off the D935 in the town and goes north to Tournay. The D29 goes from Beaudéan to the centre of the commune with no exit. The D918 from Barèges passes through the southeast of the commune through the hamlet of La Mongie and continues northeast to Sainte-Marie-de-Campan. Apart from the town area the commune is mostly mountainous with few roads.

The railway that connected Bagnères and Tarbes was closed in the late 1980s and the service is now provided by the TER bus from the old railway station which is now known as the bus station. The nearest airport is Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport some to the north.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has several buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

  • The Uzer House at 1 Place d'Uzer (17th century)
  • The Jean d'Albret House at 5 Rue du Vieux-Moulin (1539)
  • The Tower of the Jacobins (14th century) is built in the flamboyant Gothic style with a square belfry of two floors atop an octagonal tower high. It is a remnant of what was once a Dominican monastery. The church was destroyed by fire in 1343. The convent and cloister were demolished in 1793.

;Other sites of interest

  • The Hospital contains a framed Painting: The Virgin of Carmel with the child Jesus and the Prophet Elie Tobie, and an angel (18th century) which is registered as an historical object.
  • The Town Hall contains Library Shelves (19th century) which are registered as an historical object.
  • The Grands Thermes de Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Grand Thermal Baths of Bagnères-de-Bigorre) were built in the Classical architecture of the 19th century using Pyrenees marble. It contains a Monument dedicated to the divinity of the Emperor Augustus (1st century) which is registered as an historical object. It also formerly held a good library.
  • The Conservatoire botanique Pyrénéen

Religious heritage

The commune has two religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

  • The old Church of Saint John Portico (1280)
  • The Church of Saint Vincent (1557) was built on a sanctuary of paleo-Christian origin. The style is High Gothic on the west façade while the south side is distinguished by its Renaissance style porch. The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
  • 2 Confessionals (18th century)
  • A Baptismal font enclosure and Group Sculpture: Baptism of Christ (18th century)
  • An Altar in the Saint Francis Chapel (18th century)
  • A Stoup (18th century)
  • A Pulpit (18th century)

<gallery>

File:Tour_des_Jacobins_%28Bagn%C3%A8res-de-Bigorre%29.JPG|Tower of the Jacobins

File:Bagnereseglisestvincent.jpg|Church of Saint-Vincent

File:Église Saint-Vincent de Bagnères-de-Bigorre 01.JPG|The Altar in the Saint Francis Chapel

File:Bagnères-de-Bigorre - Cloître Saint-Jean.JPG| Cloister of Saint-Jean

File:Halles de Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées, France).JPG|Covered Market

File:Place de Strasbourg (Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France).JPG|Place de Strasbourg

</gallery>

Environmental heritage

thumb|Theodoxus fluviatilis thermalis

  • The Grottes de Médous (Médous caves) are natural caves accessible to visitors as well as a place of pilgrimage.
  • Bagnères-de-Bigorre is the reference site for Theodoxus fluviatilis thermalis which was described in the 19th century by the malacologist Dominique Dupuy.

Museums

thumb|Salies Museum

The town has had a museum since at least the early 20th century.

The town has three museums:

  • The Salies Museum of Fine Arts which lies below the oldest part of the thermal baths, the Dauphin baths dating from 1783
  • The Salut Natural History Museum
  • The Marble Museum created in 2007. This museum has more than 300 large samples of European marble.

Cultural facilities

The city has several cultural centers:

  • The Multimedia library
  • The Municipal Cultural Center
  • Le Maintenon Cinema

Many cultural events are organized:

  • The Piano Pic Festival
  • Chopin in Bagneres
  • The Weekend of Street Art
  • The À Voix Haute Music Festival (At a Loud Volume Music Festival)
  • The High school girls video meeting (Ascension weekend)
  • The Pyrenees Book Fair

The town has an orchestra called the Harmony Bagnéraise and a choir called La chorale des chanteurs montagnards (Chorus of Mountain Singers) which is the oldest secular choir in France and Europe [ref. required].

Sports

The Stade Bagnérais is a French rugby union club who have long played in the First Division, twice reaching the final of the Championship of France (1979 and 1981), and which plays in Fédérale 1 in the Rugby Championship in France.

The town of Bagneres has several sports associations, school structures, a leisure center, and numerous sports facilities:

  • 4 Gymnasiums: La Plaine, Henri Cordier, Jules Ferry, and Carnot;
  • The Apollo Hall for Dojo;
  • The André Boysson Swimming pool;
  • Rugby and soccer fields: La Plains, Marcel Cazenave Sports Park, Cordier, and Bagnères-Pouzac SIVU Sports;
  • Tennis Courts: inside and outside;
  • The Municipal Equestrian Center;
  • Bigorre Golf Course (in Pouzac);
  • The Adour Artificial whitewater;
  • A Fronton in the Sports Park;
  • A Skatepark;
  • Bédat Shooting Range;
  • A range of mountain activities at Tourmalet

In 2008 and 2013 Bagnères-de-Bigorre was a stage in the Tour de France:

  • 2008 Tour de France: stage finish, won by Vladimir Efimkin
  • 2013 Tour de France: stage finish, won by Dan Martin

Worship

thumb|upright|Reformed Church

The Parish of Bagneres-de-Bigorre includes 17 communes in the diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes (Haut-Adour Sector).

The Petit-Rocher Carmel was founded in 1833 by Mother Marie-des-Anges. Expelled in 1901, the Carmelites returned in 1921 and a new community was formed in 2009.

There is also a temple of the Reformed Church built by Emilien Frossard in 1857. It is attached to the parish of Hautes-Pyrenees with Tarbes and Cauterets.

Notable residents

  • The Bédat Family: came from Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • André Joseph Boussart (1758–1813): General of the Republican armies and of the Empire, died at Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Alfred Roland (1797–1874): composer and creator of the Conservatory of Music of Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Marie-Armand d'Avezac de Castera-Macaya (1798–1875): archivist and geographer, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Jean-Jacques Vignerte (1806–1870): Politician, died at Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Charles Dancla (1817–1907): violinist and composer, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Charles Duclerc (1812–1888): Politician, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham (1841–1918): British explorer and Royal Navy officer, designer of the flag of New Zealand, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Dominique Soulé (1863-1953): Founder of the railway materials industrial works in 1862 which carried his name until 1992
  • Blanche Odin (1865–1957): Painter water-colourist, lived and died in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Julián Bourdeu (1870–1932): Journalist and Police commissary in Argentina, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Philadelphe de Gerde (1871–1952): Félibrige poet from Gerde who has a stele commemorating here opposite the thermal baths
  • Marcellin Duclos (1879–1969): Opera singer (Baritone), born and died in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke (1883–1963): British Army officer, became Chief of the Imperial General Staff, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Pierre-Georges Latécoère (1883–1943): Industrialist and businessman, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Pierre Lamy de la Chapelle (Limoges 1892-Bagnères-de-Bigorre 1944): son-in-law of Dominique Soulé, pioneer of the ski station at La Mongie, founded the tennis club of Bagnères-de-Bigorre in 1920, originated the idea of serving the Pic-du-Midi with a cable car
  • Tony Poncet (1918–1979): tenor, Opera singer and war veteran, lived in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Jean Gachassin (1941–): former French rugby player and president of the Fédération française de tennis, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Jean-Louis Bruguès (1943–): Archbishop, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Roland Bertranne (1949–): former rugny player who played at Stade Bagnérais
  • Jean-Paul Betbeze (1949–): economist, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Jean-Michel Aguirre (1951–): international Rugby Union player and former player for Stade Bagnérais
  • Yves Duhard (1955–): Rugby Union player, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Wilfrid Forgues (1969–) and Frank Adisson (1969–): Olympic champions in Canoeing in 1996
  • Sophie Theallet (1964–), Fashion designer, born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • The Société Ramond: founded at a meeting between Henry Russell, Charles Packe, Farnham Maxwell-Lyte, and Emilien Frossard in 1865, and named after Louis Ramond de Carbonnières, based in Bagnères-de-Bigorre
  • Tony Hawks: English writer and comedian, purchased a house in a village near Bagnères-de-Bigorre as told in his 2006 book A Piano in the Pyrenees.

See also

  • Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department
  • List of spa towns in France
  • Stade Bagnérais
  • Bigorre
  • La Mongie

Notes

References

  • Bagnères-de-Bigorre official website
  • Bagnères-de-Bigorre on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
  • Baigneres en Bigorre on the 1750 Cassini Map