Orthez

Orthez is a town in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, crossed by the Gave de Pau in the heart of Béarn, some 47 kilometres by road from Pau. It was the capital of Béarn, and it was here that Gaston Fébus proclaimed the territory's independence in 1347; from its medieval past it preserves the fortified Pont-Vieux and the tower of the Moncade castle, as well as the house of Jeanne d'Albret, home to a museum on Béarn's Protestant history. A stop on the Way of St James, it retains former pilgrim lodgings such as the Hôtel de la Lune. Its name is tied to basketball: Élan Béarnais, founded in Orthez in 1931, won the Korać Cup in 1984 and its first French league titles in the mid-1980s, while still playing at the La Moutète hall, before moving to Pau in 1989. Orthez is European Town of Sport 2026, a title reserved for municipalities of fewer than 25,000 inhabitants, which places it within the French representation of the ACES network.