Bazas

Bazas Cathedral

Coat of arms

Bazas

Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine region

Bazas

Coordinates: 44°25′58″N 0°12′38″W / 44.4328°N 0.2106°WCoordinates: 44°25′58″N 0°12′38″W / 44.4328°N 0.2106°W

Country

Bazas

Bazadais

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Bernard Bosset

Area¹

37.29 km² (14.40 sq mi)

Population (2008)²

4,607

• Density

120/km² (320/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

33036 / 33430

Elevation

34–123 m (112–404 ft)
(avg. 56 m or 184 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.

Bazas is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France.

Bazas stands on a narrow promontory above the Beuve valley 60 km/37 mi southeast of Bordeaux and 40 km/25 mi southwest of Marmande.

As Cossio, it was capital of the ancient tribe of the Vasates, and under the Romans one of the twelve cities of Novempopulania, when it was known as Civitas Vasatica

In later times it was capital of the district of Bazadais, and was the seat of the bishop of the diocese of Bazas from at least the beginning of the 6th century until 1790. And for 250 years prior to 1057, the Bishop of Bazas bore the title of Bishop of Aire, Dax, Bayonne, Oloron and Lescar. According to Gregory of Tours, Bazas had a bishop at the time of the Vandal invasion in the 5th century.

The dedication of the cathedral to St. John the Baptist is explained in an account given by the same historian that a lady of Bazas, whom certain hagiographers of the 19th century believe to have been St. Veronica, brought from Palestine a relic of St. John the Baptist at the time of that saint's death.

Pope Urban II (1088–99) preached the crusade at Bazas.

Bazas was a subprefecture until 1923, when it lost this role to Langon.

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Wikipedia