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Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Municipality, Hautes-Pyrénées, France)

Flag of Bagnères-de-Bigorre - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 2 July 2022

Presentation of Bagnères-de-Bigorre
Flag of Bagnères-de-Bigorre
- Former flag of Bagnères-de-Bigorre

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Presentation of Bagnères-de-Bigorre

Bagnères-de-Bigorre (7,000 inhabitants in 2021; 12,586 ha) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the department of Hautes-Pyrénées.

The region of Bigorre was conquered by the Julius Caesar in 56 BC. Valerius Messala stamped out the last pockets of tribal resistance in 28 BC at a victory over the Campani on a hill in Pouzac. The Romans subsequently settled and greatly frequented Vicus Aquensis's natural springs. At its greatest extent, Vicus Aquensis covered about half the area of the present Bagnères-de-Bigorre. With the 4th-century reforms, the area around Vicus Aquensis became Aquitania Tertia or Novempopulana. It was sacked by the Visigoths amid the Barbarian Invasions. The Visigoths in the area were displaced by the Franks following their defeat at the AD 507 Battle of Vouillé. There are no documents or remains from the area until 1171: archaeologists have proposed that the city was destroyed at some point by an earthquake and abandoned following a plague outbreak in 580.

In 1171, Centule III, count of Bigorre, granted "Aquae Convenarum" a liberal charter. It lists four villages in the area protected by ramparts. By 1313, 800 homes were recorded, making Bagnères as large as Tarbes, the county seat. The town was a place of manufacture and trade, with only 40% directly involved in agriculture. Mills were erected on widened canals fed by the Adour.
The Black Death reached the town in 1348. Amid the Hundred Years' War, the town fell into English possession in 1360 before suffering a second outbreak of plague o, 1361. Henri de Trastámara, an ally of the French king, plundered, ransomed, and razed the town in 1427
Soon repopulated, the town became even more commercial during Renaissance. The area's natural springs again rose to national prominence under Jeanne d'Albret, who became queen of Navarre and countess of Bigorre upon her father Henry's death in 1555. She frequented the baths, prompting many other prominent visitors to follow. Jeanne d'Albret converted to Calvinism in 1560 and attempted to impose the Reformation on her domains the following year. The King of France reacted militarily against the Protestants. While Jeanne d'Albret was in La Rochelle to help the Protestants fighting there, the French armies seized Béarn. The Queen of Navarre then appealed to Montgommery to recover her land. The warlord plundered and ransomed the towns. He threatened Bagnères, demanding a large sum. It is not known if the amount requested has been paid. By the end of the Wars of Religion, Bagnères-de-Bigorre was ruined. Plague also returned in 1588 and struck again in 1628, 1653, and 1654. On 21 June 1660, strong earthquakes hit the town, continuing for three weeks. Only seven people were killed, but 150 houses were damaged and the springs initially dried up. This was only temporary, however, and the water flowed again sometime later
Reconstruction was carried out with stones from the Salut Quarry. This stone becomes like marble once polished, a feature that characterized the architecture of the town afterwards.

Hydrotherapy was gaining importance in the 18th century. There were 25 private businesses by 1787.In the 19th century, the hydrotherapy offered by Bagnères's spas was reckoned particularly effective for digestive complaints but the private spas were growing more decrepit. In response, the municipality organized the construction of a Grand Thermal Spa (the "Thermes"), which was completed in 1828. By the 1870s, the tourists would double the town's population of c. 9500 during the "season", which ran from May until about the end of October.
The supply of marble became a pillar of the local economy, with the expansion of the Géruzet marble works making it one of the largest in France from 1829 to 1880. In the 1870s, the industry employed a thousand people. The demolition of the city's walls allowed the completion of ring roads around the town. The town's population had declined to around 7000 at the onset of the First World War, which resulted in the expansion of industry in Bagnères, particularly in the field of railway rolling stock. The marble industry collapsed but mechanical and textile industries replaced it. The share of hydrotherapy in the economy also decreased. In June 1944, during the Second World War, a punitive expedition of a company of SS murdered 32 in the town and hundreds more in the valley in retaliation against the actions of the resistance in the region. The postwar period saw rapid urban growth, particularly in the 1960s. Rural areas of the commune disappeared. At the end of the 20th century industrial activity decreased; the thermal spa activites remain important.

The commune' territory includes the ski resort of La Mongie, on the east side of the Domaine du Tourmalet.

The coat of arms is blazoned: Gules, 3 towers Argent, the middle elevated, enclosed by a surrounding wall the same, all masoned, embattled, windowed, and ported of Sable.

Olivier Touzeau, 2 July 2022

Flags of Bagnères-de-Bigorre

The flag of Bagnères-de-Bigorre is white with logo (photo, 2013; photo, 2013).

Olivier Touzeau, 2 July 2022

Former flag of Bagnères-de-Bigorre

Former flags of Bagnères-de-Bigorre - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 2 July 2022

The previous flag of Bagnères-de-Bigorre was white with the former logo (photo, 2008).

Olivier Touzeau, 2 July 2022