Azet

The village, with Col d'Azet in the background

Coat of arms

Azet

Location within Occitanie region

Azet

Coordinates: 42°48′41″N 0°21′09″E / 42.8114°N 0.3525°ECoordinates: 42°48′41″N 0°21′09″E / 42.8114°N 0.3525°E

Country

Vielle-Aure

Haute Vallée d'Aure

Government

• Mayor (2001–2020)

Jean Michel Carrot

Area¹

26.63 km² (10.28 sq mi)

Population (2010)²

161

• Density

6.0/km² (16/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

65058 /65170

Elevation

1,055–3,020 m (3,461–9,908 ft)
(avg. 1,172 m or 3,845 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Azet is a French commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of south-western France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Azetois or Azetoises.

Azet is located some 55 km south by south-east of Tarbes and 20 km west of Bagnères-de-Luchon. Access to the commune is by road D225 from Estensan in the west to the village. The public square of the village is 1,172 metres above sea level at the intersection of the Aure and Louron valleys with the Col de Val Louron-Azet to the south-east. The commune is very rugged and inaccessible with extensive forests in the south.

The Ruisseau de Lustau flows north from the Lustou Lake in the south of the commune, gathering many tributaries including the Ruisseau de Sarrouyes which flows from lakes in the south-east of the commune, and becoming the Mousquere before passing the village and continuing north to join the Neste d'Aure north of Vielle-Aure.

Azet has a mountain climate with high temperatures in summer.

The probable etymology of the name is Adet, adou, ados, âne, asou, then Azet meaning a place marking the end of the terrain which could only be crossed by donkey or horse.

There is little evidence to trace the origin of the village except the church, which dates from the fourth quarter of the 12th century In 1887 the village had two primary schools. Village resources were mainly pastoralism with livestock farming of sheep, cows, horses, and donkeys as well as crops such as wheat, rye, meslin, barley, buckwheat, beans, peas, potatoes, turnips, flax sprouts, and hay.

From the 1880s the population decreased due to the waves of typhoid fever during 1886-1887 and the rural exodus of young people.

Blazon:
Azure, a fir proper between two donkeys Sable facing fess point all on a terrace in base Vert, in chief a crosslet Argent.

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Wikipedia