All about the history of Bidart and its heritage through commented itineraries.
For 4 years, the municipality of Bidart has been publishing a notebook on the occasion of the European Heritage Days. It is on the basis of research undertaken within the framework of the heritage inventory initiated by elected officials of the municipality that these notebooks are published. Each year a new theme is in the spotlight!
We suggest you find them on this page ...
Beautiful (re) discovery for you!
The Parlementia district
The existence of the parish of Bidart dates back to the 1633th century and until XNUMX, Bidart and Guéthary formed a single village.
In the XNUMXth century, there was a port in Bidart located at the mouth of the Uhabia. Whaling was practiced there, from September to March. Over time and with storms, the port became silted up. The cliff of Parlamentia, inserted between the hold of Guéthary and the port of Uhabia, was the stronghold of fishermen. The Saint-Joseph chapel was also held by the Brotherhood of Fishermen.
It served as a meeting place between the jurats - municipal magistrates - of the two parishes.
Today, there are very few vestiges of port activity left except the Koskenia Watchtower to the south of the town, which overlooks the Parliamentia beach.
Discover the History and some anecdotes about the Parliamentia district by downloading the heritage notebook n ° 1 below.
In the footsteps of Henri Rateau
Neo-Basque architecture is a neo-regionalist architectural style that flourished during the 1st quarter of the XNUMXth century.
The architects were inspired by traditional Labourdine farms: the asymmetrical composition, the gabled facade, the wooden panel, the carved stone lintels, the wide eaves to create a luxurious and comfortable house. Architects, painters, decorators, illustrators but also writers, craftsmen, through their art, have shaped an image of the Basque Country.
In the early 1920s, the surveyor and architect Henri Rateau, originally from Bourges, settled in Bidart. Surveyor, he limits the new land dedicated to construction.
An architect, he designed modest-sized villas to which he applied the principles of the neo-Basque style.
Discover the houses and establishments of Bidart imagined by Henri Rateau by downloading the heritage notebook n ° 2 below.
Bidart Unusual
Between 2018 and 2020, the municipality of Bidart carried out an inventory of its heritage in partnership with theInventory of the General Heritage of New Aquitaine. This process was initiated in 1964 by André Malraux, then Minister of Cultural Affairs. Its role is to identify, study and make known the architectural and movable heritage of a territory.
Maïté Elhinger, then in charge of this inventory, traveled through Bidart up and down in order to photograph, study and list as much information as possible. The book “Bidart, entre terre et mer” is the fruit of his research.
At the same time, and for our greatest pleasure, Maïté offers in this new edition of the heritage notebooks, an itinerary to discover Bidart from another angle ...
Tell us if you knew all these anecdotes!
The Bidart pediments
Bidart has several pediments spread over the town, each has its history, its secrets, its victories, all of course are linked to Basque pelota.
One of them is a hundred years old, some have experienced great competitions and have seen great players evolve, and one thing is certain, it is that all of them continue to make the balls of professionals and amateurs slam over the years and seasons...
The Basque Country guided tours team looked into the matter and after a few months of research collected the information needed to write the new edition of the heritage notebooks 👇
Discover the book "Bidart, entre terre et mer" from the Faces of Heritage collection published by Les éditions Le Festin.
This book lists a summary of the research carried out during the heritage inventory which took place from 2018 to 2020.
