# Bassillon-Vauzé

Bassillon-Vauzé (French pronunciation:; Occitan: Bassilhon e Bausèr) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

## Geography

Bassillon-Vauzé is located some 25 km north-east of Pau and 8 km west of Maubourguet. The eastern border of the commune is also the departmental border with Hautes-Pyrénées. Access to the commune is by the D68 from Vidouze in the east which changes to the D148 at the departmental border and continues through the south of the commune west to join the D943 south-west of the commune. The D205 comes from Corbère-Abères in the north which passes through the commune and continues south to join the D148 in the south of the commune. The commune is mostly farmland with some forest in the west.
The Larcis river and the Lac de Bassillon, which is formed by a dam on the Larcis, form the eastern border of the commune. The Ruisseau du Boscq forms the western border of the commune as it flows north into the lake formed by the Retenue de Lembeye-Corbères dam.

### Places and Hamlets

* Bassillon
* Camescasse
* Canton
* Les Garrus
* Grabette
* Lasplaces
* Marela
* Maury
* Millo
* Le Moutha
* Pachera
* Pouey
* Routgé
* Toubarthe
* Vauzé
vteNeighbouring communes and villages :
Escurès
Corbère-Abères
Moncaup
Lembeye
Bassillon-Vauzé
Lahitte-Toupière
Samsons-Lion
Luc-Armau
Vidouze :

## Toponymy

Michel Grosclaude said that Bassillon comes from the Latin name Bassilius with the suffix -onem, giving "Domain of Bassius". The origin of Vauzé is undetermined.
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
| Name | Spelling | Date | Source | Page | Origin | Description |
| Bassillon | Basilhoo | 1385 | Grosclaude | | Census | Village |
| | Basilhoo | 1402 | Raymond | 23 | Census | |
| | Bacilhoo | 1540 | Raymond | 23 | Reformation | |
| | Baxilho | 1542 | Raymond | 23 | Reformation | |
| | Basilhon | 1546 | Raymond | 23 | Reformation | |
| | Bacilhon | 1550 | Raymond | 23 | Reformation | |
| | Baßillon | 1750 | Cassini | | | |
| | Bassillon | 1790 | Cassini1 | | | |
| Vauzé | Bauser | 1385 | Grosclaude | | Census | Village |
| | Bausee | 1538 | Raymond | 173 | Reformation | |
| | Bauser | 1538 | Raymond | 173 | Reformation | |
| | Beauzé | 1675 | Raymond | 173 | Reformation | |
| | Vauzer | 1682 | Raymond | 173 | Reformation | |
| | Vauzé | 1750 | Cassini | | | |
| | Vauser | 1768 | Raymond | 173 | Denombrement | |
| | Vauzé | 1790 | Cassini1 | 173 | Reformation | |
| Le Castet | Le Castet | 1863 | Raymond | 45 | | Farm |
| Le Moutha | Le Moutha | 1863 | Raymond | 120 | | Place |
| Moutoné | Mountouné | 1774 | Raymond | 120 | Terrier of Bassillon | Place |
Sources:
* Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)
* Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)
* Cassini: 1750 Cassini Map
* Cassini1: 1790 Cassini Map
Origins:
* Census: Census of Béarn
* Reformation: Reformation of Béarn
* Denombrement: Denombremont of Candau

## History

Paul Raymond noted on page 23 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 Bassillon had 7 fires and depended on the bailiwick of Lembeye. On page 173 he mentioned that Vauzé had a lay abbey, vassal of the Viscount of Vauzé, and that the Barony of Vauzé was created in 1641 under the Viscounts of Béarn which included Peyrelongue-Abos and Vauzé.
The former communes of Bassillon and Vauzé were merged in 1833.

## Administration

List of Successive Mayors
| From | To | Name |
| 1995 | 2014 | Jean-Claude Maury |
| 2014 | 2020 | Claude Lagarrue |
| 2020 | 2026 | Dominique Duclerc |

### Inter-communality

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:
* the Communauté de communes du Nord-Est Béarn
* the SIVU for roads in the canton of Lembeye
* the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
* the inter-communal association for the supply of drinking water of Vic-Bilh Montanérès

## Demography

In 2017 the commune had 66 inhabitants.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1793 | 132 | — |
| 1800 | 130 | −0.22% |
| 1806 | 555 | +27.37% |
| 1821 | 150 | −8.35% |
| 1831 | 286 | +6.67% |
| 1836 | 284 | −0.14% |
| 1841 | 287 | +0.21% |
| 1846 | 240 | −3.51% |
| 1851 | 241 | +0.08% |
| 1856 | 233 | −0.67% |
| 1861 | 203 | −2.72% |
| 1866 | 218 | +1.44% |
| 1872 | 205 | −1.02% |
| 1876 | 190 | −1.88% |
| 1881 | 188 | −0.21% |
| 1886 | 180 | −0.87% |
| 1891 | 167 | −1.49% |
| 1896 | 161 | −0.73% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1901 | 178 | +2.03% |
| 1906 | 164 | −1.62% |
| 1911 | 169 | +0.60% |
| 1921 | 134 | −2.29% |
| 1926 | 115 | −3.01% |
| 1931 | 109 | −1.07% |
| 1936 | 109 | +0.00% |
| 1946 | 108 | −0.09% |
| 1954 | 99 | −1.08% |
| 1962 | 95 | −0.51% |
| 1968 | 75 | −3.86% |
| 1975 | 76 | +0.19% |
| 1982 | 77 | +0.19% |
| 1990 | 76 | −0.16% |
| 1999 | 72 | −0.60% |
| 2007 | 73 | +0.17% |
| 2012 | 72 | −0.28% |
| 2017 | 66 | −1.73% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
Source: EHESS and INSEE :

## Economy

The commune is located in the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Pacherenc-du-vic-bilh white wine.

## Culture and heritage
### Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:
* The Maison Laïus Farmhouse (1765)
* Houses and Farms (18th-19th century)
* A Fountain (1833)
* A Fortified Complex (Prehistoric)

### Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:
* A Presbytery (1853)
* The Parish Church of Saint Girons at Bassillon (1783) The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
** 2 Statues (19th century)
** A Pulpit (18th century)
** 2 Stoups (18th century)
** A Stoup (18th century)
** Stained glass windows (19th century)
* The Parish Church of Saint-Barthélémy at Vauzé (1773) The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
** A Stations of the Cross (19th century)
** 4 Altar Candlesticks (18th century)
** A Stoup (18th century)