Balansun

Balansun
Commune
The centre of the village of Balansun
Location of Balansun
Balansun Show map of France Balansun Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 43°29′33″N 0°41′51″W / 43.4925°N 0.6975°W / 43.4925; -0.6975
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Artix et Pays de Soubestre
Intercommunality	Lacq-Orthez
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Bénédicte Alcetegaray[1]
Area 1	10.73 km2 (4.14 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	308
• Density	29/km2 (74/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64088 /64300
Elevation	84–208 m (276–682 ft) (avg. 112 m or 367 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Balansun (French pronunciation: [balɑ̃sœ̃]; Occitan: Valensun) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Geography[edit]

Balansun is a commune in the former province of Béarn located some 6 km east of Orthez and 4 km north of Argagnon. Access to the commune is by the D946 road from Arthez-de-Béarn in the east which passes through the centre of the commune south of the village and continues south-west to join the D817 west of Castétis. Access to the village is by the Chemin de l'Eglise which branches north off the D946 on the western side of the commune. The commune is mixed forest and farmland.^[3]

The commune is located in the Drainage basin of the Adour with the Ruisseau de Clamondé forming the southern border of the commune as it flows west to join the Gave de Pau west of Castetis. Three streams flow through the commune from east to west into the Ruisseau de Clamondé gathering many tributaries in the commune/

Places and hamlets[edit]

Neighbouring communes and villages[edit]

Toponymy[edit]

Michel Grosclaude said that the origin of the original name is the Gascon Latin name of a man Valentius with the suffix -unum.^[5]

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

Sources:

• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)^[5]
• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)^[4]
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750^[6]
• Ldh/EHESS/Cassini: Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Balansun, EHESS (in French).

Origins:

• Bérérenx: Chapter of Bérérenx^[7]
• Fors de Béarn^[8]
• Pardies: Notaries of Pardies^[9]
• Census: Census of Béarn^[10]
• Froissart: Jean Froissart, Book IV
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn^[11]

History[edit]

Paul Raymond noted that on page 20 of his 1863 dictionary that the fief of Balansun was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn and, in 1385, had 27 fires depending on the bailiwick of Pau.

Administration[edit]

List of Successive Mayors^[12]

Mayors from 1942

Inter-communality[edit]

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté de communes de Lacq-Orthez;
• the SIVU of Balansun/Castétis;
• the water and sanitation association of Trois Cantons;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;

Demography[edit]

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Balansenais or Balansenaises in French.^[13]

Economy[edit]

Economic activity is mainly agricultural (livestock).

Sites and monuments[edit]

The Parish Church of the Assumption of Notre-Dame (1850) is registered as an historical monument.^[16]

Facilities[edit]

The commune has a primary school which is grouped in an RPI (Intercommunal Educational Grouping) with the primary school in Castétis.

See also[edit]

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balansun.

• Balensun on the 1750 Cassini Map