Arbonne is located some 6 km south of Biarritz and 3 km east of Bidart. It is part of the Urban area of Bayonne and is located in the former province of Labourd. Access to the commune is by road D255 from Biarritz in the north passing through the village and continuing south to Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle. The D655 branches off the D255 in the south of the commune and goes to Ahetze. The A63 autoroute passes through the northern tip of the commune but has no access from the commune. In the south of the commune is the hamlet of Le Hameau d'Arbonne. The rest of the commune is mainly farmland with patches of forest especially in the north.
Located in the drainage basin of the Adour, the commune is traversed by the Uhabia, a small coastal river that flows into the ocean at Bidart, and its tributaries: the Zirikolatzeko erreka and the Ruisseau d'Argelos.
The Ruisseau de Pemartin also flows through the commune and there is an extensive network of streams throughout the commune.[3]
The oldest lord of Arbonne whose names are known are from the Sault family, Viscounts of Labourd. At the end of the 14th century the lordship was owned by the Saint-Julien family (originally from Lower Navarre) and then in 1408 to the Amezqueta family.[11]
The Act of 4 March 1790,[12] which determined the new administrative landscape of France by creating departments and districts, created the Department of Basses-Pyrénées to bring together Béarn, the Gascon lands in Bayonne and Bidache, and three French Basque provinces. For these three provinces three districts were created: Mauléon, Saint-Palais, and Ustaritz which replaced the Bailiwick of Labourd. The seat of Ustaritz was transferred almost immediately to Bayonne. Its Directorate pushed many municipalities into adopting new names conforming to the spirit of the Revolution. Arbonne was called Constante,[13]Ustaritz became Marat-sur-Nive, ItxassouUnion, Saint-Étienne-de-BaïgorryThermopyles, Saint-PalaisMont-Bidouze, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-PortNive-Franche, LouhossoaMontagne-sur-Nive, Saint-Jean-de-LuzChauvin-Dragon, AinhoaMendiarte, and SouraïdeMendialde.
the mixed association for management of Ura drinking water;
the mixed association for sanitation in Ura;
the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
The commune is part of the Eurocité basque Bayonne-San Sebastian (fr) (a cross-border association to develop the area from Bayonne in France to San Sebastian in Spain).
Demography
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arbonars in French.[16][6]
The commune has two buildings that are registered as historical monuments:
The Church of Saint-Laurent (12th century).[18] It is of a medium size with an arched Bell-gable characteristic of Labourd religious buildings. Some old Hilarri are visible in the cemetery.
The old Benoîterie d'Arbonne (16th century)[19] The Benoîterie was the residence of the Benoîte or guardian of the church and cemetery and is now the venue for exhibitions (paintings, crafts).
Facilities
Health
The commune has a general practitioner, three nurses, a speech therapist, a physiotherapist, and a dentist - all in the village centre.
Education
Arbonne has two primary schools, one public and one private (Saint-Laurent school)
Notable people linked to the commune
Jean Borotra - called the Basque bondissant (the Bounding Basque), born in 1898 at Biarritz and died in 1994 at Arbonne, a tennis player and French politician
Bernard Béreau, born in 1940 at Arbonne and died in 2005, he was a French footballer
Marie-Michèle Beaufils, born in 1949 at Arbonne, she is a contemporary writer
^ a b c d e f g h iTopographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 (in French)
^Euskaltzaindia - Academy of the Basque language (Basque)
[18] It is of a medium size with an arched Bell-gable characteristic of Labourd religious buildings. Some old Hilarri are visible in the cemetery.