Eaux-Bonnes

Eaux-Bonnes (French: [o bɔn], "good waters"; Occitan: Aigas Bonas) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.

Eaux-Bonnes
Commune
Town Hall
Coat of arms
Location of Eaux-Bonnes
Eaux-Bonnes Show map of France Eaux-Bonnes Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 42°58′26″N 0°23′27″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Oloron-Sainte-Marie-2
Intercommunality	Vallée d'Ossau
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Luc Braud[1]
Area 1	38.52 km2 (14.87 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	203
• Density	5.3/km2 (14/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Eaux-Bonnais, Eaux-Bonnaises
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64204 /64440
Elevation	520–2,619 m (1,706–8,593 ft) (avg. 750 m or 2,460 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Description

Eaux-Bonnes is close to the small town of Laruns. It is situated at a height of 2,460 feet (750 m) at the entrance of a fine gorge, overlooking the confluence of two rivers. The village's waters were first documented in the middle of the 14th century. The Eaux-Chaudes spa is 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Eaux-Bonnes, and there is fine mountain scenery in the neighbourhood of both places, the Pic de Ger near Eaux-Bonnes.^[3]

The climate which characterizes the town is of "mountain climate", according to the typology of climates of France which then has eight major types of climates in metropolitan France.^[4]

Gourette is a winter sports resort located in the commune on the high mountain pass Col d'Aubisque.

History

Eaux-Bonnes circa 1886

Eaux-Bonnes in 1843, by Eugène de Malbos.

The historian Auguste Lorieux (1796–1842) died in Eaux-Bonnes.

Nearby to the north-west on the Surcou road, is the impressive villa Cockade, the construction of which is detailed in Dornford Yates's novel The House That Berry Built.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 206 —     1800 152 −4.25% 1806 206 +5.20% 1821 259 +1.54% 1831 257 −0.08% 1836 269 +0.92% 1841 470 +11.81% 1846 477 +0.30% 1851 366 −5.16% 1856 404 +2.00% 1861 762 +13.53% 1866 917 +3.77% 1872 836 −1.53% 1876 753 −2.58% 1881 828 +1.92% 1886 874 +1.09% 1891 812 −1.46% 1896 775 −0.93%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 768 −0.18% 1906 684 −2.29% 1911 622 −1.88% 1921 485 −2.46% 1926 455 −1.27% 1931 453 −0.09% 1936 462 +0.39% 1946 510 +0.99% 1954 558 +1.13% 1962 392 −4.32% 1968 501 +4.17% 1975 421 −2.45% 1982 526 +3.23% 1990 536 +0.24% 1999 435 −2.29% 2009 418 −0.40% 2014 340 −4.05% 2020 191 −9.16%
Source: EHESS (1793-1999)[5] and INSEE[6]

See also

• Aas, a village in Eaux-Bonnes.
• Ossau Valley
• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Eaux-Bonnes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 839–840.
4. Joly, Daniel; Brossard, Thierry; Cardot, Hervé; Cavailhes, Jean; Hilal, Mohamed; Wavresky, Pierre (18 June 2010). "Les types de climats en France, une construction spatiale". Cybergeo: European Journal of Geography. doi:10.4000/cybergeo.23155.
5. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Eaux-Bonnes, EHESS (in French).
6. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE