Online Encyclopedia

BIARRITZ

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 849 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BIARRITZ  , a watering-

place of south-western France, in the department of Basses-Pyrenees, on the sea-coast about 5 M . W.S.W. of
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Bayonne . Pop . (1906) 13,629 . From a mere fishing
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village, with a few
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hundred inhabitants in the beginning of the 19th century, Biarritz rose rapidly into a place of importance under the patronage of the emperor
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Napoleon III. and the empress
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Eugenie, with whom it was a favourite resort . The
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town is situated on a promontory jutting north-west into the
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Bay of Biscay and on the coast which extends on each side of it . The
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beach to the north-east is known as the Grande Plage, that to the south-west as the Cote
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des
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Basques . The Grande Plage is more than
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half a mile long and stretches to the Cap St Martin, on which stands a lighthouse . It is divided into two parts by a small headland once the site of the
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villa of the empress Eugenie, between which and the main promontory are the two casinos, the
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principal
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baths and many luxurious villas and
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fine hotels . Towards the north-east the promontory of Biarritz ends in a
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projection known as the Atalaye, crowned by the ruins of a castle and surrounded by rocky islets . Some of these are
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united to the mainland and to each other by jetties which curve round so as to form the
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Port de
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Refuge, a haven available only in
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fair weather . South-west of the Atalaye lies the Port-Vieux, a sheltered
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cove now used only as a bathing-place .

The Port des Pecheurs, the principal of the three harbours, is on the south-east side of the Atalaye and is that most used by the fishermen of the town . Apart from unimportant manufactures of pottery,

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chocolate, &c., fishing is the only industry; Biarritz depends for its prosperity on the visitors who are attracted by its mild
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climate and the bathing . The season is almost continuous; in the winter the
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English, in the summer Russians, Spaniards and French fill the hotels of the town . Among its attractions is a golf club, established in 1888, with a course of 18 holes .

End of Article: BIARRITZ
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