Last modified: 2006-12-23 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Andernos]](../images/f/fr-33-ad.gif)
Flag of Andernos - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 27 July 2006
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The municipality of Andernos-les-Bains (9,259 inhabitants; 2,001 ha) is
located in the Basin of Arcachon, 40 km west of Bordeaux.
The region of Andernos was settled very early in the history, as proved
by the remains of a Gallo-Roman villa found there in 1902 and dated
from the end of the IVth century. In the XIXth century, it was believed
that Andernos was in the past a Greek colony named Andros (lit. the
man). The name of Andernos is indeed derived from Latin Andernossum,
meaning Andernus' villa. The suffix -ossum, later -os, is common in
Aquitaine and is cognate with the more common suffix -acum used to
designate the Gallo-Roman villae.
(After Origine des noms des villes et villages de Gironde by M. Korsak and J.M. Cassagne, Editions Bordessoules).
In the Middle Ages, the St-Eloi church, whose building started in the XIth century, was a stopping place on one of the pilgrims' trails heading to Santiago. The church still has a fresco made in the XVth century showing the life and martyre of St. Quitterie. According to the legend, Quitterie (Witteria) was the daughter of a Wisigoth lord of Toulouse, where the Arian heresy was the official religion ; she converted to (then) orthodox Christianism and fled to avoid being married with an Arian lord. Quitterie was caught and beheaded in Aire-sur-l'Adour in 127. A source gushed forth on the place where her head had fallen; she took her head in her hands and carried it to the place where the church of Aire was later built (see the similar legend of St. Denis). In 589, the Council of Toledo canonized her. St. Quitterie is venerated in the south-west of France, in Spain and in Portugal.
After the French Revolution, Andernos became a municipality, including
the neighbouring village of Arès, the seat of a powerful Barony under
the Ancient Regime. It is probable that the seat of the municipality
was set up in Andernos rather than in Arès to limit the influence of
the last Baron d'Arès, the Royalist François de Belcier. Arès became an
independent municipality by the Law of 9 January 1851. Before, most
Municipal Councillors of Andernos came from Arès. The most famous of
these Councillors is David Allègre (1776-1846), an officer of the
Imperial and Royal Navy in Brest who purchased the castle of Arès after his retirement.
On 28 March 1836, six fishing boats were wrecked in the bottleneck
forming the entrance of the Basin of Arcachon. The event caused the
death of 78 men and made 160 orphans; it remained locally known as lou
gran malhou (le grand malheur, the big calamity) and was for a while
a national issue. Allègre decided to use his wealth and knowledge of
navigation to improve fishing safety; he ordered from a shipyard in
Bordeaux the trawler Le Turbot, launched in Arcachon in 1837 as the
first steam trawler in the world, years before steam replaced sails.
Allègre has related his experience in the booklet De la pêche dans le
Bassin et sur la côte extérieure d'Arcachon, published in 1841 in
Actes de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de
Bordeaux. In 1840, Allègre built in Andernos the fish tanks still
visible near Pointe des Quinconces.
In the beginning of the XXth century, Andernos developed as a posh sea
resort, and severals beautiful villas from that period have been
preserved until now. The great actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923, aka
La Divine, one of the models of the actress portrayed by Marcel
Proust as "La Berma") stayed in Andernos in 1914-1917 and said: Andernos, quelque soit la promenade que l'on fasse, on est entouré de beauté ([In] Andernos, wherever you walk, you are surrounded by beauty). In 1915, the actress had a leg amputated but did not stop her career, still playing her masterpiece, Jean Racine's Phèdre sitting on a
chair. She was given the nickname of La Mère-Lachaise, a nasty pun on
chaise, a chair, and the famous cemetary in Paris named after Father
(Père) Lachaise. When the traditional three strokes were given to
announce the curtain-up, nasty people used to say "She is coming!".
Andernos progressively evolved to a family resort, highly appreciated
for its safe sandy beaches, spreading over 4.5 km between Lanton and
Arès, its marina and its oyster port with its traditional,
bright-coloured booths. At lower tide, wide sandy areas locally called
crassats emerge out of the sea and are the best place to pick up
shells, mussels and crabs. The port was revamped in 1926 with the
building of a 232-m long wharf, promoted by Mayor Louis David. This is
still the longest wharf in the Basin of Arcachon.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 27 July 2006
The flag of Andernos, as seen on the municipal website, is white with the municipal logotype in the middle and the name of the municipality in blue letters below the logotype. At least the logotype has a clear meaning: the blue part represents both the A for Andernos and a geographical outline of the Basin of Arcachon. The orange square represents the location of Andernos on the Basin.
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 27 July 2006