Ainhoa and the Valley of Xareta
With just over 650 residents, Ainhoa may be small, but it’s rich in history and character. It’s one of four villages that form the Xareta Valley, straddling the French-Spanish border alongside Sare (in the French Basque province of Labourd), and Zugarramurdi and Urdax (in Spanish Navarre).
Nestled between mountains, verdant meadows, winding streams, and dense forests, the valley is aptly named in French as La Vallée Boisée –The Wooded Valley. Its landscape is enchanting, but what truly sets it apart is the shared heritage that transcends the border: ancient trading routes, footpaths of pilgrims and smugglers, and centuries of kinship and collaboration among its people.
Located in eastern Labourd, the coastal province of the French Basque Country, Ainhoa was founded in the 12th century as a bastide, a fortified village, to host pilgrims traveling along the Baztan Route of the Camino de Santiago.
This route, the most westerly passage through the Pyrenees, crosses via the Belate Pass at 847 meters. Pilgrims arriving in Bayonne by land or sea would take this ancient path to quickly reconnect with the Camino Navarro and continue toward Santiago.
Ainhoa’s iconic Labourdine houses
Ainhoa’s charm is also architectural. It has earned the label Les Plus Beaux Villages de France thanks to its traditional Labourdine homes, a style deeply tied to Basque identity.
These striking buildings line the village’s main street, their whitewashed stone facades adorned with bold red or green timber frames, colours derived from local pigments. The deep red, often referred to as oxblood red, once came from actual ox blood used as a natural wood preservative.
Details matter here: pink sandstone or engraved wooden lintels (often inscribed with the owner’s name and date), wooden balconies, mullioned windows, cornerstones, and carved inscriptions, all tell stories of generations past.
Roofs are gently sloped and covered with curved red tiles. Their orientation, ridge parallel to the main facade, with extended eaves to the east, protects the homes from the Atlantic winds and heavy rains typical of the region.
The pilgrimage to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Hawthorn
For those who don’t mind a bit of a climb, a stone path winds its way up the Atsulai mountainside to the Chapel of Notre-Dame de l’Aubépine – Chapel of Our Lady of the Hawthorn, perched at 389 meters.
Legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to a young shepherd in a hawthorn bush, and this modest chapel now draws pilgrims honouring that miraculous event.
The path is lined with crosses and culminates in a serene hilltop setting featuring a calvary with three crosses (built in 1898) and 26 discoidal and tabular steles, distinctive symbols of Basque funerary art.
The panoramic views are stunning; you can see across the Xareta Valley to the Pyrenees peaks, the vast Atlantic, and on clear days you can even see the coastal towns of Ciboure and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
These discoidal steles, or hilarriak in Basque (from hil “death” and arri “stone”), are emblematic grave markers. Aligned east-west in symbolic reference to the sun’s path, they illustrate the deep spiritual relationship between life and death in Basque culture.
With carved motifs ranging from solar symbols to Christian imagery, these steles date back to proto-historic times and saw a renaissance between the 16th and 19th centuries. Today, they’re once again cherished, both for their beauty and for their role in preserving Basque cultural identity.
Interestingly, similar markers appear elsewhere too: in Southern France (i.e. La Courvertoirade Templar commandery), Spain, the Maghreb, Nordic countries, and even Russia.
The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption
If the hike to the chapel feels too steep (a pity, but understandable!), the village itself has spiritual treasures to explore.
The Église Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, Ainhoa’s parish church, was built in the 13th century to serve pilgrims on the Camino. Remodelled in the 17th century, it’s a beautiful example of religious Labourdine architecture: a single nave, no side aisles, and a Romanesque semicircular apse.
Its solid, fortress-like structure, complete with arrow slits, also made it a refuge during times of war. The square bell tower was constructed in the 17th century, later topped with an octagonal spire clad in slate in the 19th century.
The interior is remarkable: two levels of wooden galleries (reserved for men until the 1970s!), a gilded altarpiece featuring the Assumption of the Virgin above the tabernacle, and 19th-century stained glass windows.
For a deeper dive into local history, stop by the Maison du Patrimoine, the village’s interpretation center. Through a 30m² panoramic screen, it tells the story of Ainhoa and the broader cross-border region of Xareta, its people, its legends, and its ties that have defied borders for centuries.
Ainhoa’s natural treasures protected by Natura 2000
Beyond its cultural and historical wealth, Ainhoa is part of a pristine ecological zone. Two Natura 2000 sites safeguard its natural heritage: The Mondarrain and Artzamendi Massif, home to unique wetlands and rare species, and the entire hydrographic network of the Nivelle River, from mountain springs to estuary.
Two ZNEFFs (Zones Naturelles d’Intérêt Écologique, Faunistique et Floristique) are also recorded here, highlighting the region’s rich biodiversity and ecological significance.
So, as you can see Ainhoa is definitively a beautiful Basque village worth the detour!
Department: Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Wikimedia Commons: Header by Calips is CC BY-SA 3.0 – Main street – Calvary – Calvary and discoidal steles – View from Atsulai – Our Lady of Hawthorn – Discoidal stele by Harrieta171 are CC BY-SA 3.0 – ND de l’Assomption by Alberto is CC BY 2.0
