Bagnères de Bigorre

Just 1h00 from your campsite, come and admire Bagnères de Bigorre, a spa town in the Hautes Pyrénées, Languedoc Roussillon midi Pyrénées region. Its architectural treasures bear witness to its eventful history.

Originally a Roman city

The Roman period saw Valerius Messala set up camp on a hill in Pouzac in 28 BC, definitively reducing the resistance of the Campani, a Gallic tribe in Aquitaine. As with all their conquests, the Romans brought with them their way of life, including the warm water terms they exploited.

The votive altar on the Grands Thermes staircase can still be seen today, and mentions Vicus Aquensis, which could mean “city of waters” (for other historians, Aquae Convenarum could be the name of the city).

It would appear that the Roman town was destroyed by an earthquake and temporarily abandoned. Slowly rebuilding, it was once again abandoned due to a plague epidemic in 580.

Bagnères de Bigorre came back to life and really began to develop in the 12th century, when the Comte de Bigorre granted the inhabitants a charter of rights and franchises. Although we don’t know how the deserted town had rebuilt itself so successfully over the preceding centuries, in 1313 there were 800 households, the equivalent of the town of Tarbes, capital of the County.

At that time, the town was divided between 4 walled villages, each with its own agricultural activities on a defined territory: those of the Bourg Vieux worked the Salut valley and the hamlet of Bouyaous (now rue Georges Lassalle), those of the Bourg Neuf in the Pouey district and Lesponne, those of the Bourg de la Font at Les Vigneaux and on the plain at
east of the Pont de Pierre, and finally, the inhabitants of Les Caoutérès farmed the land around the Pont d’Arras and the hamlet of Sarraméa.

As for the Adour, diverted by a canal, it makes mills flourish. The resulting crafts are used for blacksmithing, leather tanning and wheat milling.

Two religious orders settled in the villages in the 12th century: the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, who used the hot springs to fulfill their role of hospitality, and the Dominicans, who had a spiritual vocation and looked after the faith of the inhabitants.

Numerous churches and chapels were built: the parish church of Bagnères, the church of Saint-Martin (located on the former temple of Diana), the church of Saint-Barthélémy (chapel of the hospital-hospice), the church of Saint-Roch, built to ward off the plague, and the church of Saint-Blaise.

Bagnères was then a prosperous town whose development was halted by a plague epidemic (1348 and 1361) and by the 100 Years’ War, which saw the victory of the English in 1360. Bagnères de Bigorre thus became an English possession, and in 1327, Henri de Trastamare, an ally of the King of France, ransacked the town, which lost two-thirds of its population. After this difficult episode, another wave of destruction swept through the town: the War of Religion.

Jeannne d’Albret, Countess of Bigorre, embraced the Protestant faith and tried to convert the Bagnérais, but they remained Catholic. The whole country was set ablaze against the Protestant heresy, and it wasn’t until the Edict of Nantes that Bagnéra returned to a peaceful land, which Henri IV annexed to the Kingdom of France in 1606.

After the Wars of Religion, the town was devastated, and the reigning famine led to the return of the plague in 1588, 1628, 1653 and 1654, not forgetting a memorable earthquake in June 1660 that lasted three weeks, destroying most of the dwellings and temporarily drying up the thermal baths.

The town was rebuilt using stone from the Salut quarry, which turns to marble as it ages, giving Bagnères its characteristic architecture.

From 1660, under the Renaissance, the spa developed and Bagnères became a spa town with 25 establishments, including the “Vaux Hall”, forerunner of the casino, where people could gamble and dance.

During the Revolution, the town welcomed a number of moderates suspected by the Republicans, ready to cross the border. The country, bloodied by the wars, received many wounded, and the Saint-Barthélémy hospice, the Capucins de Médous hospice, and the Uzer and Lanzac houses were transformed into military hospitals.

Bagnères de Bigorre, a spa town

Today, Bagnère de Bigorre has preserved its curative function by redeploying its activities around the thermal baths, opening a new re-education and functional rehabilitation center of regional importance, a large retirement home and a medicalized nursing home. But Bagnères is also increasingly focused on tourism, and has encouraged the establishment of the Aquensis thermoludic center, dedicated to well-being and fitness.

The desire to develop the town has also seen the creation of the conservation of
the environment and heritage has led to the creation of the Centre permanent d’initiatives pour l’environnement (CPIE) and then the Conservatoire botanique pyrénéen. Together with the Natural History Museum, these institutions are based in the Salut valley.

Remarkable monuments to visit :

14th-centurySaint Vincent church with Renaissance-style arched porch
The Jacobins Tower, a square belfry in the flamboyant Gothic style on the first two floors, ending in an octagon.
The ancient church of Saint Jean with its prestigious portico
The Maison d’Uzer with its facades, roof and preserved interior decor.
Rue du Vieux Moulin with the Ancienne Maison Jeanne d’Albret.

Last but not least, the Grands Thermes, characterized by classic 19th-century architecture and the use of noble materials, including Pyrenean marble, which has its own museum. Nice walks to enjoy the town:

The “Allées de Maintenon” promenade
The ensemble formed by Old Bagnères
The Vallon de Salut with its dramatic alleys

Book your pitch at your campsite near Bagnières de Bigorre