Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Moorish villa, classified as a historical monument in 2010, is located on Rue des Pêchers in Hendaye (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), on the old city walls and the right bank of the Bidassoa estuary. This strategic site once marked the border between France and Spain, in an area of recurrent conflicts for the control of fisheries and navigation. The building was erected on the ruins of the "old fort" of Hendaye, destroyed in 1793 by the Spanish armies during the war against the French Revolution.

Count Jules de Polignac, captain of the Hunters of Africa and veteran of the Algerian countryside, acquired in 1865 a plot of the ice of the destroyed fort. He built a small Moorish-style fort, reusing the stones of the ruins, reflecting his North African experience. Endorsed, in 1890 he gave the property to Dr. Camino, mayor of Hendaye and founder of the Marine Hospital, who transformed it by adding two floors and a patio covered with a window.

The villa takes on its present appearance in the 1950s under the impulse of Louis Légasse, shipowner and son-in-law of Dr Camino. It opens the patio to the sky and adds decorative elements, such as the mermaid of the Légasse, a family symbol from their native village of Legasa (Navarre). The villa, still owned by the Légasse-Camino family, houses collections related to local history, including a marine cannon recovered after the Battle of the Cardinals (1759) and memories of Napoleonic battles.

The garden, located on the remains of the fortifications, forms a natural palm grove overlooking the Bidassoa. The villa symbolizes the renaissance of Hendaye after revolutionary wars, thanks to railways, tourism and fishing. Its eclectic architecture and family history bear witness to the cultural exchanges between the Basque Country, North Africa and Spain.

Among the remarkable elements, the statue of Notre-Dame de Guadalupe, patron saint of Fontarrabie, carved by Serafin Esuain, illustrates the cross-border links. The Napoleon office preserves works evoking the battles of the Bidassoa and the Nivelle, while a piece is dedicated to the Légasse dynasty, influential shipowners in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and founders of the first Spanish fishing company (PYSBE).

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