Cemetery Foundation 1628 (≈ 1628)
Purchase of land from the lords of Aspremont.
1631
Oldest grave
Oldest grave 1631 (≈ 1631)
First tombstone dated from the cemetery.
1737
Site saturation
Site saturation 1737 (≈ 1737)
Cemetery full, requiring extensions.
XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles
Construction periods
Construction periods XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles (≈ 1850)
Successive site development.
27 septembre 1995
Official protection
Official protection 27 septembre 1995 (≈ 1995)
Registration as a Historic Monument.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Closing wall, entrance gate, floor and basement of the third Israelite cemetery (Cd. AC 189): inscription by order of 27 September 1995, as amended by order of 16 November 1995
Key figures
Seigneurs d'Orthe - Landowners
Selled the land in 1628.
Seigneurs d'Aspremont - Landowners
Associated with the 1628 transaction.
Marc Benquet - Historician (TER history)
Studyed the judaization of inscriptions.
Origin and history
The first Jewish cemetery in Peyrehorade, located on Rue des Chapons, was founded in 1628 on land purchased from the lords of Aspremont, outside the city walls. This place, with an area of 16.37 acres, is closed by a wooden gate and houses about a thousand graves, materialized by limestone slabs laid on the ground. The oldest tombstone dates from 1631, and the cemetery reached saturation in 1737, reflecting the demographic expansion of the local Jewish community.
Between 1633 and 1722 the funeral inscriptions showed a progressive judaization, revealing the identity of this community. According to Marc Benquet's research (TER of history), Jewish funeral rites were already practiced in Peyrehorade since the second half of the sixteenth century, long before the official acquisition of the land. The growth of the Jewish population later required the creation of a second, then a third cemetery on the commune.
The site, protected by decree of 27 September 1995 for its fence wall, soil and basement, is now managed by a cult association. The 468 tombstones still visible offer a material testimony of sefarad history in the South-West, in an area marked by intense cultural and commercial exchanges. The approximate location (8 Chemin des Maurisks) and the state of conservation underline its heritage importance, despite a cartographic accuracy considered fair (note 5/10).
The periods of construction mentioned (17th and 18th centuries) correspond to the planning phases of the cemetery, while the Jewish community of Peyrehorade played a notable economic and social role in the Landes. This historical monument thus illustrates the coexistence of religious traditions in a France of Ancien Régime, between local tolerance and spatial constraints.
The study of funeral inscriptions reveals a linguistic and symbolic evolution, from more neutral formulae to explicitly Jewish marks. This process is part of a broader context of reassertion of identity, while the Jewish communities in the South-West enjoyed relative autonomy under seigneurial authority, as evidenced by the purchase of land from the lords of Orthe and Aspremont.
