Agnos

Agnos
Commune
The Mielle at Agnos
Location of Agnos
Agnos Show map of France Agnos Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 43°09′50″N 0°37′05″W / 43.164°N 0.618°W / 43.164; -0.618
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Oloron-Sainte-Marie
Canton	Oloron-Sainte-Marie-1
Intercommunality	Haut Béarn
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	André Bernos[1]
Area 1	9.18 km2 (3.54 sq mi)
Population  (2023)[2]	1,044
• Density	114/km2 (295/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64007 /64400
Elevation	247–535 m (810–1,755 ft) (avg. 250 m or 820 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Agnos (French pronunciation: [aɲɔs]; Occitan: Anhòs) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Agnos is part of the urban area (unité urbaine) of Oloron-Sainte-Marie.^[3]

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Agnosiens or Agnosiennes.^[4]

Agnos is located just 2 km south of Oloron-Sainte-Marie and some 25 km southwest of Pau. It can be accessed on the D155 road from Bidos in the northeast coming southwest to the village then continuing southeast to Gurmençon. The D555 road also passes through the commune from the north and joins the D155 northeast of the village.^[5] The commune is mixed farmland and forests with the forests scattered throughout the commune.

The river Mielle, a tributary of the Gave d'Oloron (Adour basin), flows through the commune.^[6]

The commune name in béarnais is Anhos. Michel Grosclaude suggested that Agnos came from a Latin man's name Annius with an Aqitaine suffix -ossum the whole meaning "domain of Annius".^[8]

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Agnos	Anhos	1364	Raymond	3	Fors de Béarn	Village
	Aynhos	14th century	Raymond	3	Census
	Aignos	1675	Raymond	3	Reformation
	Agnos	18th century	Grosclaude
	Agnos	1750	Cassini
La Baig	La Baig	1863	Raymond	3		Forest

Sources:

• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)^[7]
• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)^[8]
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750^[9]

Origins:

• Fors de Béarn^[10]
• Census: Census of Béarn^[10]
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn^[11]

Paul Raymond noted on page 3 of his 1863 dictionary that in 1385 Agnos had seventeen fires and depended on the bailiwick of Oloron.^[7]

The commune was merged with Gurmençon on 1 February 1973 to form the commune called Val-du-Gave d'Aspe. It was restored to its previous status on 1 January 1983.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2021)

List of Successive Mayors of Agnos^[12]

From	To	Name	Party
1995	2026	André Bernos	PS

The town is part of five inter-communal organisations:

• the Community of communes of Haut Béarn
• the SIVU to limit floods in Agnos
• the AEP Union for Agnos-Gurmençon
• the Inter-communal Union for Sanitisation for the Aspe gateway
• the energy union for Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 346 —     1800 301 −1.97% 1806 328 +1.44% 1821 375 +0.90% 1831 421 +1.16% 1836 479 +2.61% 1841 473 −0.25% 1846 482 +0.38% 1851 461 −0.89% 1856 431 −1.34% 1861 431 +0.00% 1866 419 −0.56% 1872 407 −0.48% 1876 372 −2.22% 1881 402 +1.56% 1886 384 −0.91% 1891 405 +1.07% 1896 405 +0.00%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 412 +0.34% 1906 406 −0.29% 1911 403 −0.15% 1921 401 −0.05% 1926 374 −1.38% 1931 373 −0.05% 1936 368 −0.27% 1946 351 −0.47% 1954 390 +1.33% 1962 372 −0.59% 1968 353 −0.87% 1975 465 +4.02% 1982 478 +0.39% 1990 645 +3.82% 1999 751 +1.70% 2007 834 +1.32% 2012 910 +1.76% 2017 1,019 +2.29%
Source: EHESS[13] and INSEE[14]

The activity of the commune is mainly agricultural (farming, polyculture). The town is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) of ossau-iraty.

The Church has a Trinitarian steeple (the presence of a Bell-gable or campenard). It contains many items which are registered as historical objects (although some were destroyed by fire in 1968):

• An Altar (destroyed) (18th century)^[15]
• 6 Candlesticks (destroyed) (18th century)^[16]
• A Cross (destroyed) (18th century)^[17]
• A Tabernacle (destroyed) (18th century)^[18]
• A Chalice (18th century)^[19]
• A Ciborium (18th century)^[20]
• A Retable (destroyed) (18th century)^[21]

The Forests of Bugangue^[22] and Labaigt are inter-association woods managed by the National Office of Forests (ONF)^[23] which provide valuable shelter for preserving local flora and fauna. Many species are protected. An arboretum is a result of collaboration with the ONF.^[24]

The Mielle, a small stream that rises in Agnos, is listed in the Natura 2000 program for three rare species: white-clawed crayfish, European pond turtles, and the rare European mink which does not exist anywhere in France except in the south-west.

The Pyrenees are rich in scenery and the village of Agnos is the starting point of one of the most attractive routes for cycling across the foothills: From Agnos to Mail Arrouil and back (four hours of cycling or seven hours of walking) in a variety of environments, moors, rocks, meadows with views of the Pyrenees. This route, like many others, is managed by the local hiking plan of the Community of communes of Piémont Oloronais (CCPO).^[25]

Associations

The model aircraft club^[26] welcomes its members in the Sayette neighborhood.

Education

The town has a primary school.

Multi-Media Library

The Multi-media library project of the CCPO identified the municipal library of Agnos as a relay point.

Sports and sports equipment

The basketball club merged with that of Asasp in 2006 to form BCHB (Basketball Club of Haut-Bearn).

• Catherine Capdevielle, born in 1938 in Agnos, is an athlete specialising in ordeal sprinting.

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

• Agnos official website (in French)
• Community of communes of Piémont oloronais website (in French)
• Agnos on the 1750 Cassini Map