Anglet, its history

Want to know all about the history of Anglet? If so, this is the place for you!

For centuries, Anglet has been a corner of land caught between the Atlantic coastline and the Adour river. Where the sandy Landes coast meets the rocky Basque coast, marking the end of the Pyrenees mountain range.

Here in Anglet, the Pyrenees are truly Atlantic!

Over the years, Anglet has gone from being a small rural market town of 5,700 inhabitants to the Little California of the Basque Country, with a population of over 40,000. This puts Anglet in 3rd place among the largest towns in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, behind Pau and Bayonne!

Let’s go back in time…

The beginnings

First official mention of Anglet, a name of Romanesque origin, from the Latin “angulus” meaning “land in the shape of a corner”.

Rural Anglet

A land of market gardens, vineyards and forests, populated by tenant farmers, winegrowers, herdsmen, ploughmen and millers, Anglet established itself as Bayonne’s “granary” and became renowned for its cider, wine, flour and resin. In those days, the Anglet landscape was dotted with lakes, barthes and pine forests.

Did you know?

1578 – The mouth of the River Adour wasn’t always between Anglet and Boucau! In fact, the architect Louis de Foix, commissioned by Charles IX, succeeded in diverting the Adour, which used to flow into Vieux Boucau in the Landes! Can you believe it?

The witch hunt

1612 – The Inquisition descends on Labourd. Pierre de Lancre, magistrate and theologian from Bordeaux, is sent on a mission by King Henri IV to “purge the country of all witches and sorcerers under the influence of demons”. Women in coastal towns such as Anglet became prime targets, as they were left alone for much of the year by their husbands, who were away at sea – an anomaly in the eyes of the magistrate. These women, often considered too free, speaking a different language and having pagan customs and traditions, were quickly associated with witches.

In his story entitled “Tableau de l’inconstance des mauvais anges et démons”, Pierre de Lancre describes for the first time the caves and other “love chambers”, also known as love baths, found along the coast, where these women bathe, evoking Venus. This description was seen as heresy at the time.

Did you know

The Plage de la Petite Chambre d’Amour, as we know it today, was once recognized as a breeding ground for whales. This was stated by Etienne de Cleirac, a Bordeaux lawyer, in his manuscript “Us et coutumes de la mer” (Uses and customs of the sea) on the uses and jurisprudence of maritime law at the time.

Anglet the seaside resort

1750 – the sea bathing craze is in full swing. Applauded by the medical establishment of the time for their therapeutic virtues, the first sea baths on the Basque Coast were developed at the Chambre d’Amour in Anglet, which became a veritable benchmark compared to Biarritz, which at the time was still just a small fishing port. The bathing craze also led to an increase in the number of drownings.

Romantic Anglet

1817 – The birth of a legend… Inspired by a true story, Etienne de Jouy’s successful 19th-century tale L’Hermite en province created a veritable craze for this mysterious place in Anglet. By portraying a tragic love affair between two young Basque lovers, the writer could not have imagined that he was about to give birth to the famous legend of the Grotte de la Chambre d’Amour. Illustrious figures such as Napoleon 1st, Joséphine de Beauharnais at the very beginning, followed a few decades later by the Queen of Spain, Queen Hortense, the Duchess of Linares, Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, were all quick to make pilgrimages to Anglet, to visit the romantic site sung by the poets. Even today, this story attracts lovers and the curious to the romantic neighborhood of the Chambre d’Amour.

Laorens, a young orphaned fisherman, and Saubade, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, fell in love long ago. Despite their father’s opposition, they would meet in a cave facing the immensity of the waves. There, they vowed to love each other until death. One evening, a storm raged in the Bay of Biscay and the sea, driven by the offshore wind, rose faster than usual, sweeping away the poor sleeping lovers.

Etienne de Jouy
L’Hermite in the provinces

Anglet la mondaine

Napoleon III took an interest in Anglet, its Refuge convent and its magnificent pine forest. He donated 90,000 gold francs, enabling the creation of the Pignada forest by planting 300 hectares of maritime pines to halt the progression of the dunes. The Chambre d’Amour site, made fashionable by Romantic literature, was one of the places where the imperial couple strolled in Biarritz; in their wake, vacationers began to frequent it. In 1884, a bathing establishment was created and a chapel built by local residents with the help of Empress Eugénie. At the same time, the automobile and aviation were in their infancy.

Aristocratic residences were built around Lac de Chiberta, with the La Barre racecourse nearby. It was THE fashionable place for entertainment at the time. The resort’s socialite clientele came here to watch the horse races, as well as the hunting parties in the Pignada.

Elegant Anglet

1927 – Treading the green? It was in the late 20s that the Golf de Chiberta was born, thanks to English architect Tom Simpson. In fact, the Duke of Widsor wanted to build a golf course as well as a Club House to accommodate his guests “in the English style”. The Club House became one of the most emblematic and prestigious landmarks of its time on the Basque Coast.

1928 – Art Deco style inspires architects Anatol and Durruthy! The two architects create a new Etablissement des Bains à la Chambre d’Amour in this new, up-and-coming style. The Club Select, with its Olympic-size pool and dozens of cabanas, is the setting for events and elegance contests. This space is counted as one of Anglet’s top venues, welcoming the biggest personalities of the moment.

Anglet the surfer

1953 – Surfing made in France! It was in Anglet that the first all-French surfboard was tested! Without daggerboards or wax, this first “savonnette” was made by the first French shaper: Jacques Rott.

1964 – Inauguration of Anglet’s first surf club at the Chambre d’Amour! Founded by one of our surfing tontons, Joël de Rosnay, the Surfing Club is inaugurated in the presence of actress Deborah Kerr, wife of Peter Viertel (famous American screenwriter). It is the second surf club to be opened in France, after the Waikiki Surf Club in Biarritz.

1966 – Anglet in the spotlight! An exceptional wave at La Barre, a surfer, and an article in the famous “Surfer Magazine”!

1968 – The surfing way of life takes root in Anglet with the first La Barre World Surfing Championships. The world’s surfing elite gathered to watch champions such as Australians Nat Young and Wayne Lynch.

1995 – An event unique in the world is born in Anglet: Anglet Surf de Nuit. A nocturnal show in which male and female surfers challenge each other in the waves using glow sticks. The competition still exists today, and is now one of the World Surf League’s special events. The glow sticks have now been replaced by LED surfboards and glow balloons above the surf spot for spectators!

1996 – The quality of Anglet’s waves enabled it to host several World Surf League Qualifying Series and World Tour competitions. Today, one stage of the World Surf League’s European circuit is still on Anglet’s surfing competition schedule!

Anglet, little California

2000 – While the American series “Malibu Alert” has been a hit on TF1 for almost ten years, the first lifesaving club develops under the impetus of Anglet’s lifeguards: Welcome to the Association des Guides de Bains Angloys!

2002 – The Anglet coastline takes on the air of a little California with its new developments: a new pedestrian promenade named after Victor Mendiboure, Mayor of Anglet from 1971 to 1992 and fervent defender of the coastline.

2017 – A golden Angloye! Destination ambassador Pauline Ado wins the Surfing World Champion title at the ISA World Championships in Biarritz.

2018 – A surf version of “Hollywood Boulevard” is inaugurated in Anglet with the installation of footprints by 6 surfing legends: Joël de Rosnay, Jacques Rott, Tom Curren, Nat Young, Maritxu Darrigrand and Peter Cole. Today, the Anglet Surf Avenue boasts some twenty such prints, including those of Kelly Slater, Pauline Ado, Johanne Defay, Emmanuelle Joly, Gerry López Michel Bourez, Jérémy Flores and, most recently, Tim Boal and Caroline Sarran.