Adour

Bridge in Aire -sur -l'Adour

The Adour (Basque Aturri ) is a river in southwest France, which runs into the regions of Midi -Pyrénées and Aquitaine.

Course

The river rises in the French Pyrenees, south of the Col d' Aspin, in the municipality of Aspin -Aure. After crossing the dam Lac de Payolle he carries out the name of the Adour de Payolle and takes his final name only after union with his left tributary of the Adour de Gripp. It drains first generally in the direction of northwest and north, then turns west and ends after 309 kilometers in Bayonne in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Adour flows through the department of Hautes -Pyrénées and Gers in the Midi-Pyrénées region as well as the departments of Landes and Pyrénées -Atlantiques in the Aquitaine region.

Mouth

The mouth of the river was not always in Bayonne. At the beginning of our era, he poured in Capbreton in the Atlantic Ocean about 15 km north of the present mouth. 910 It led, in Port- d'Albret, now the Vieux- Boucau- les- Bains, 30 km north of the present mouth. 1164 broke through the river at Bayonne the dunes for a short time to 10 years later, pour back into the sea at Capbreton, followed again from Port- d'Albret in 1390.

As Bayonne sank into the sand and to perish threatened, ordered King Charles IX. , Dig a trench in the city through the dunes, which should be the harbor to the sea. The work was completed by the citizens of the mid- 1550s under Henri VIII and under the direction of architect Louis de Foix.

On October 28, 1578 plunged the Adour, reinforced by a flood its tributary the Nive, in a breach that the people at the newly built city Boucau- Neuf (the present district of Bayonne Boucau ), dug into the dunes had and they nouvelle bouche ( new opening) designated. The old port d'Albret has now renamed Vieux- Boucau, Bayonne was revived. They now had to keep only the new passage freely and keep the effects of wind, sand and sea at bay.

Navigability

The Adour is navigable from its mouth to Port-de- Pouy over a length of 72 kilometers by ship. Also, its tributaries gaves Réunis, Bidouze, Aran, Ardanavy and Nive are each a few kilometers upstream navigable and, with the Adour a closed shipping area. However, in some sections of the fairway is no longer maintained, so that it comes in particularly arid summers to unsafe navigation conditions. Much of the route is influenced by the tides.

On the Adour goods were transported from the interior since the Middle Ages, especially wine from Aquitaine; still be on him products of Gascony, especially corn, shipped.

Tributaries

Left tributaries:

• Echez
• Louet
• Lées
• Bahus
• Gaba
• Louts
• Luy
• Gaves Réunis ( Gave de Pau, Oloron )
• Bidouze
• Joyeuse or also called Aran
• Ardanavy
• Nive

Rights tributaries:

• Estéous
• Arros
• Midouze
• River Luzou

Places on the river

• Campan
• Bagneres -de- Bigorre
• Tarbes
• Maubourguet
• Aire -sur -l'Adour
• Grenade- sur -l'Adour
• Saint -Sever
• Pontonx -sur -l'Adour
• Saint -Paul- lès -Dax
• Dax
• Urt
• Bayonne
• Boucau