Tras sus vecinas Bayona y Cambo-les-Bains, Hasparren se suma a la lista de municipios del País Vasco francés donde el Tour hace etapa, después de que hasta ahora solo la hubiera atravesado. Será la ocasión de rendir homenaje a Romain Sicard. Vencedor del Tour de l’Avenir en 2009 y campeón del mundo sub-23 ese mismo año, este corredor nacido en Bayona pero criado en Hasparren disputó siete Tours de Francia antes de volver a la carrera como director deportivo.
- Ciudad etapa por primera vez
- Municipio de Pirineos Atlánticos (64)
- Habitantes: 7650
- ville-hasparren.fr • communaute-paysbasque.fr • le64.fr
Hasparren and cycling
Following in the footsteps of its neighbours Bayonne and Cambo-les-Bains, Hasparren joins the list of Basque towns hosting a Tour de France stage, having previously only been ridden through. This will be an opportunity to pay tribute to Romain Sicard. Winner of the Tour de l’Avenir in 2009 and U23 world champion the same year, the Bayonne-born rider – who grew up in Hasparren – competed in seven Tours de France as a rider before taking on the role of sports director. A great hope for French cycling following his 2009 season, Romain Sicard saw his professional career partly derailed by health issues: in 2011, a fall and persistent tendinitis revealed serious muscular problems, and he was forced to end his career in 2021 due to a heart condition.
Sights
Stone of Hasparren
Date: 275 to 285.
Characteristics: the Hasparren stone is a Roman stele discovered in 1660 in the foundations of the high altar of the village church during building works. This white marble slab, measuring 68.3 x 32.8 cm, commemorates the creation of the province of Novempopulania.
It reads: ‘Flamine (priest of the imperial cult) and also duumvir (member of a college of two magistrates governing the city), quaestor (tax collector), and administrator of the region, Verus, entrusted with an embassy to Augustus (the emperor), secured for the nine peoples the right to be united with the Gauls / to be separated from the Gauls. On his return from the City (Rome), he dedicated this altar to the Genius of the region.’
Its date is uncertain, but the most recent studies estimate that it dates from between 275 and 285, during the reign of Diocletian. It is thought to mark the annexation of part of Aquitaine to Gaul at the expense of Hispania.
A copy of the plaque is preserved and displayed in a niche set into the south wall of the present-day church. The original plaque is kept in a safe at the town hall.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 2015.
Church of Saint John the Baptist
Construction: 19th century.
History and features: this church was completely rebuilt between 1879 and 1883 by architect Emile Doyère. Inside, the two-tiered galleries dating from 1859 are still in place. A painted decoration, created in 1895 by Daniel Saubès, adorns the apse of the chancel. As for the stained-glass windows, they are the work of master glassmaker Champigneule, dating from 1882.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 2015.
Chapel of the Sacred Heart
Construction: 20th century.
History and features: the chapel was built between 1928 and 1931 by architects Georges Tribout, Joseph Hiriart, Georges Beau and François Lafaye. It is an austere building that contrasts with the Art Deco-style interior décor. The paintings are by Antoine Sauvage, whilst the mosaics and stained-glass windows were created by the Mauméjean firm. In 1925; Parisian architects Hiriart, Lafaye, Tribout and Beau drew up an initial plan to rebuild the chapel in the Neo-Renaissance style, with the aim of replacing the original chapel, built in 1841 when the Missionaries’ house was founded by Father Garat, which later became Saint-Joseph College. Between 1928 and 1931, the new chapel was built based on a new design by Hiriart, Lafaye, Tribout and Beau. In 1935, the Mauméjean Brothers’ workshop, based in Paris and Hendaye, created a series of stained-glass windows and mosaics. Around 1935–1940, the nave and chapels were adorned with a series of murals by the painter A. Sauvage, an interior decorator from Courbevoie (dating and attribution according to source). The chapel was consecrated on 8 December 1936 by Bishop Houbaut of Bayonne.
Current use: it is now the chapel of the Lycée Saint-Joseph.
Listing: listed as a Historic Monument in 2011.
Route Impériale des Cimes (Imperial Road of the Summits)
The Route Impériale des Cimes is a historic strategic road, 53 km long, linking Bayonne and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. It is designated as the RD 22. It passes through the towns of Saint-Pierre-d’Irube, Mouguerre, Villefranque, Jatxou, Halsou and Cambo, then, before Hasparren, branches off towards Mendionde and Irissarry, bypassing the Ursuya on its eastern flank. In the early 19th century, the road was a strategic route for Napoleon’s troops, who used it during the Spanish War of Independence to reach Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
The road’s profile and its scenic viewpoints make it an ideal route for cyclists. The Tour de France has followed part of this route on several occasions. Today, traffic has become so heavy that its appeal to tourists and sports enthusiasts is under threat.
Maison Chrestia, home of Francis Jammes
Built: 18th century.
Features: Maison Chrestia is a charming 18th-century building constructed in the purest Béarn style. Francis Jammes (1868–1938) lived in this house from October 1897 to December 1907. Since 1982, Maison Chrestia has been the headquarters of the Francis Jammes Association. From 1921 to 1938, following an inheritance, Francis Jammes settled in Hasparren, at Maison Eyhartzea. The poet is buried in Hasparren cemetery. The poet achieved recognition in 1898 with the publication of the book From the Angelus at Dawn to the Angelus at Dusk, written at Maison Chrestia. Some praised him for his simplicity, whilst others criticised him for his oversimplification. Among his friends were Anna de Noailles, André Gide, Arthur Fontaine, François Mauriac, Colette and Paul Claudel, with whom he maintained a prolific correspondence. An archive collection open to researchers can be consulted at the Maison Chrestia: the poet’s manuscripts, various correspondence comprising some 4,000 letters, press clippings dating from 1895 to the present day, an iconographic collection, and a musical collection comprising over 200 melodies composed to the author’s poems.
