Arget

Arget (French pronunciation: [aʁʒɛt]) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. It is part of the traditional province of Béarn.

Arget
Commune
An old farmhouse in Arget
Location of Arget
Arget Show map of France Arget Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 43°32′38″N 0°31′38″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Artix et Pays de Soubestre
Intercommunality	Luys en Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Thierry Soustra[1]
Area 1	4.00 km2 (1.54 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	80
• Density	20/km2 (52/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64044 /64410
Elevation	75–182 m (246–597 ft) (avg. 131 m or 430 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Arget is located some 18 km north-east of Orthez and 12 km south-east of Hagetmau on the border between Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes departments. It can be accessed by the D264 road from Montagut in the east passing through the commune and the village (of 2 buildings) and continuing south-west to Casteide-Candau. The commune has quite large areas of forest in the west but is mostly farmland.^[3]

Several streams rise in the commune with the Hourquet forming the north-western border as it flows north-east to join the Ruisseau de la Rance at the northern tip of the commune. The Rance forms the north-eastern border as it flows north-west. The south-eastern border also consists of an unnamed stream which joins the Rance just outside the eastern tip of the commune.^[3]

Places and hamlets

• Bayoc
• Boué^[4]
• Capère
• Carrèrot^[5]
• Castagnet
• Conte
• Cousnat
• Glaude
• Herris
• Hibet^[6]
• Hourcq^[7]
• Ménou
• Montaut
• Pourtique^[8]
• Régidou
• Séris
• Touroun^[9]
• Vignau

^[10]

Neighbouring communes and villages

^[3]

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is Arget.

Michel Grosclaude was unable to justify the local belief that the name means "sandy place" from arena (meaning "sand") with the collective suffix -etum (giving arenetum then arenet then areet then ariet), and could not conclude other than "of uncertain origin and meaning".^[11]

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Arget	Argiet	1383	Raymond	10	Luntz	Village
	Arzet	1695	Raymond	10	Order of Malta
	Arget	1750	Cassini

Sources:

• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)^[12]
• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)^[11]

Origins:

• Luntz:^[13]
• Order of Malta: Titles of the Order of Malta^[14]

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 10 of his 1863 dictionary that Arget depended on the Commandery of Malta of Caubin and Morlaàs and on the Barony of Moustrou, built in 1647, and was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn.^[12]

Administration

The Town Hall

List of Successive Mayors^[15]

From	To	Name
1995	2001	Chantal Gallenmuller
2001	2026	Thierry Soustra

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Argétois or Argétoises in French.^[16]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 213 —     1800 201 −0.82% 1806 315 +7.78% 1821 223 −2.28% 1831 270 +1.93% 1836 248 −1.69% 1841 294 +3.46% 1846 303 +0.60% 1851 302 −0.07% 1856 282 −1.36% 1861 227 −4.25% 1866 206 −1.92% 1872 190 −1.34% 1876 195 +0.65% 1881 200 +0.51% 1886 205 +0.50% 1891 193 −1.20% 1896 172 −2.28%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 167 −0.59% 1906 161 −0.73% 1911 170 +1.09% 1921 159 −0.67% 1926 151 −1.03% 1931 139 −1.64% 1936 130 −1.33% 1946 119 −0.88% 1954 107 −1.32% 1962 110 +0.35% 1968 99 −1.74% 1975 100 +0.14% 1982 97 −0.43% 1990 79 −2.53% 1999 83 +0.55% 2007 89 +0.88% 2012 89 +0.00% 2017 78 −2.60%
Source: EHESS[17] and INSEE[18]

Culture and heritage

Arget War Memorial

Civil heritage

Arget has many farms that are registered as historical monuments:

• A Farmhouse at Hourcq (1832)^[7]
• The Menusé farm at Pourtique (1897)^[8]
• The Lajournade farm at Pourtique (18th century)^[19]
• The Pemeste farm at Hourcq (1797)^[20]
• Houses and Farms^[21]
• A Farmhouse at Boué (1905)^[4]
• A Farmhouse at Hibet (1871)^[6]
• A Farmhouse at Carrèrot (1898)^[5]
• A Farmhouse at Touroun (18th century)^[9]

Religious heritage

The Church of Notre Dame

Main Altar

The Parish Church of Notre Dame (12th century) is registered as an historical monument.^[22] It contains several items that are registered as historical objects:

• The Furniture in the Church^[23][24]
• A Bronze Processional Cross (18th century)^[25]
• A Wooden Processional Cross (19th century)^[26]

Notable people linked to the commune

• Annie Beustes, born Annie Campagne, is a New Caledonian politician, born on 15 August 1945 in Arget.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Google Maps
4. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000066 Farmhouse at Boué (in French)
5. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000063 Farmhouse at Carrèrot (in French)
6. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000064 Farmhouse at Hibet (in French)
7. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000061 Farmhouse at Hourcq (in French)
8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000059 Menusé farm at Pourtique (in French)
9. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000060 Farmhouse at Touroun (in French)
10. Géoportail, IGN (in French)
11. Michel Grosclaude, Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages, ISBN 2-35068-005-3 (in French)
12. Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 (in French)
13. Contracts retained by Luntz, Notary of Béarn in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (in French)
14. Titles of the Order of Malta in the Departmental Archives of Haute-Garonne (in French)
15. List of Mayors of France (in French)
16. Pyrénées-Atlantiques, habitants.fr
17. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Arget, EHESS (in French).
18. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
19. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000065 Lajournade farm at Pourtique (in French)
20. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000062 Pemeste farm at Hourcq (in French)
21. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000135 Houses and Farms (in French)
22. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA64000001 Parish Church of Notre Dame (in French)
23. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM64002827 Furniture in the Church (in French)
24. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM64002780 Supplementary list of Furniture in the Church (in French)
25. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM64002651 Bronze Processional Cross (in French)
26. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM64002650 Wooden Processional Cross (in French)

External links

• Arget on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Arget on the 1750 Cassini Map