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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The ancient lay abbey of Arette was mentioned as early as 1385 under the name of "Abadia" in the General Count of the Houses of the Viscounty of Béarn. This document attests to its medieval existence, well before the major transformations that it later experienced. At an unspecified time, the Protestants burned down the building, probably reducing its original house body to a partial state.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the abbey was rebuilt and enlarged in a symmetrical plane: a second building, identical to the first one, was erected and connected by a large central staircase. The ensemble is inspired by the architectural principles of François Mansart, while maintaining local features of the Bearnais. The facades, pierced by four large double-shoe windows and a circular fronton door, reflect this stylistic duality. Inside, monumental chimneys, including one decorated with clusters and baskets of fruit, decorated the main rooms.

In the 18th century, the abbey passed into the hands of merchants of Oloron who divided it into apartments. The rooms on the first floor were then enriched with woodwork, marking a transition to residential and commercial use. The building, classified as a Historical Monument in 1968 for its facades, roofs, old fireplaces and park, today bears witness to these historical strata, mixing Protestant destruction, classical reconstruction and market adaptations.

The abbey presents itself as a body of barlong houses framed by two lightly advanced pavilions, typical of the bearnaise mansions of the time. Its current address, 58 Rue Marcel Loubens in Arette (64570), corresponds to the historical location mentioned in the Merimée base under the code Insee 64040 (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).

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