Orincles
Orincles | |
|---|---|
 View of Orincles and the Pyrenees | |
.svg.png) Coat of arms | |
Location of Orincles | |
  Orincles Location within France  Orincles Location within Occitanie | |
| Coordinates: 43°07′44″N 0°02′25″E / 43.1289°N 0.0403°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitania |
| Department | Hautes-Pyrénées |
| Arrondissement | Tarbes |
| Canton | Ossun |
| Intercommunality | CA Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2026–2032) | Serge Duclos[1] |
Area 1 | 5.86 km2 (2.26 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 364 |
| • Density | 62.1/km2 (161/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 65339 /65380 |
| Elevation | 360–608 m (1,181–1,995 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Orincles (Occitan: Aurinclas) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Historically and culturally it forms part of Bigorre, a former county of Gascony in the central Pyrenees. The commune lies between Tarbes and Lourdes, in the valley of the Échez and the adjoining foothills.
Orincles had 364 inhabitants in 2023.[2] INSEE classifies it as lying outside any unité urbaine; it nevertheless belongs to the functional area of Tarbes, the Tarbes–Lourdes employment area and the Lourdes bassin de vie.[3] The landscape combines farmland in and around the Échez valley with extensively wooded slopes, and parts of the commune are included in two French ecological inventory zones.
Geography
_sur_l'%C3%89chez_1.jpg)
Orincles covers 5.86 km2 (2.26 sq mi). Its elevation ranges from 360 m (1,181 ft) to 608 m (1,995 ft). It is in the central part of Hautes-Pyrénées, south of Tarbes and northeast of Lourdes.
The neighbouring communes are Barry, Bénac, Layrisse, Julos, Loucrup, Paréac, Escoubès-Pouts, Astugue and Arrayou-Lahitte.
The principal watercourse is the Échez, a tributary of the Adour, which crosses the commune before continuing northwards. The Géline, the Garleyre stream and several smaller watercourses also drain the territory.
According to the 2018 CORINE Land Cover survey, agricultural land accounted for 54.4% of the commune, down from 58.7% in 1990. Forest covered 41.0%, built-up areas 4.4% and shrub or herbaceous vegetation 0.3%. Agricultural land consisted principally of heterogeneous agricultural areas (31.5% of the commune) and pasture (22.9%).[4]
Climate
The commune lies close to the transition between the plains of Bigorre and the Pyrenean foothills. Météo-France places the area within its mountain and mountain-margin climatic zone. At the Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées meteorological station in neighbouring Ossun, the 1991–2020 climate normal gives a mean annual temperature of 12.8 °C (55.0 °F) and mean annual precipitation of 1,081 millimetres (42.6 in).[5]
Natural environment
Parts of Orincles fall within two zones naturelles d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique (ZNIEFF), areas identified under the French national inventory of ecologically important sites. The type 1 zone, Réseau hydrographique des Angles et du Bénaquès, covers the local river network and associated habitats.[6] It lies within the much larger type 2 zone Coteaux et vallons des Angles et du Bénaquès, which covers 12,879 ha (31,820 acres) of valleys and foothills in the area.[7]
Toponymy
The traditional Occitan name of the commune is Aurinclas. Michel Grosclaude and Jean-François Le Nail's Dictionnaire toponymique des communes des Hautes-Pyrénées records a series of medieval and early modern forms of the name.[8]
A person identified as Fortanerio de Orinclis appears around 1180 in the cartulary of Saint-Savin. The settlement is recorded as Orincles in 1285 and again in a 1342 ecclesiastical register of the diocese of Tarbes; the Latin form De Orinclis occurs in 1313 and 1379. The form Orinclas is recorded in a 1429 tax register of Bigorre, while the modern spelling Orincles appears on the 18th-century Cassini map.[8]
History
Orincles formed part of historic Bigorre. Under the Ancien Régime, it belonged to the pays and sénéchaussée of Bigorre, within the quarteron of Lourdes and the marquisate of Bénac. After the administrative reorganisation of the French Revolution, it became part of the canton of Ossun in 1790.[9]
The departmental archives preserve deposited municipal records for Orincles dating from 1685 to 1919.[9] A Napoleonic cadastral plan of the commune was completed in 1817 and is also preserved by the departmental archives.[10]
Orincles was considerably more populous during the 19th century than it is today. The population rose from 550 in 1793 to a recorded maximum of 737 in 1846, before beginning a long decline.[11]
Agriculture was changing substantially by the late 19th century. A study based on the communal monographs written by Hautes-Pyrénées schoolteachers in 1887 cites Orincles as an example of deliberate changes in land use: areas of former moorland were converted into vineyards and fields of rye.[12]
The demographic decline continued through much of the 20th century, reaching 236 inhabitants in 1990. Population growth resumed thereafter, with the commune reaching 364 inhabitants in 2023.[2]
Government and administration
.jpg)
Orincles belongs to the arrondissement of Tarbes and the canton of Ossun. It forms part of the Communauté d'agglomération Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées. Its official INSEE commune code is 65339.[3]
In the first round of the 2026 municipal election on 15 March, the Orincles Avenir list headed by the incumbent mayor, Serge Duclos, was the only list elected. It received 162 votes and all 11 seats on the municipal council. Turnout was 69.23%.[13] Duclos remained mayor for the 2026–2032 term; the council has three deputy mayors.[1]
Population
Orincles had a municipal population of 364 in 2023 and a total legal population of 372 when people counted separately for administrative purposes are included.[2] The municipal population is the figure used by INSEE for statistical purposes.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 282 | — |
| 1975 | 251 | −11.0% |
| 1982 | 252 | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 236 | −6.3% |
| 1999 | 261 | +10.6% |
| 2007 | 309 | +18.4% |
| 2012 | 335 | +8.4% |
| 2017 | 330 | −1.5% |
| 2023 | 364 | +10.3% |
| Source: INSEE[2] | ||
The post-1990 recovery has partly reversed a much longer period of depopulation: the commune had reached its historical recorded maximum of 737 inhabitants in 1846.[11]
Economy and housing
The commune retains a strongly rural physical character, although agriculture does not account for all local employment. INSEE recorded 47 jobs located within Orincles in 2022, of which 55.4% were salaried positions. The activity rate among residents aged 15 to 64 was 78.9%.[14]
There were 171 dwellings in 2022. Primary residences accounted for 86.5%, second or occasional residences for 8.8% and vacant dwellings for 4.7%. Some 82.4% of households occupying a primary residence owned their home.[14]
Education
_1.jpg)
The primary school at Orincles forms part of the RPI du Haut-Marquisat, an intercommunal school grouping with Visker, Layrisse and Loucrup. The different primary-school year groups are distributed among the four villages. Orincles hosts the petite section and moyenne section nursery classes. An intercommunal syndicate manages school meals, childcare and pupil transport.[15]
Sport and local culture
One of the distinctive local sports is quilles de neuf, the traditional nine-pin form of skittles played in southwestern France. Orincles has its own club and plantier (skittles ground).
The village remained an active competition venue in 2026. On 30 May, Orincles was one of three Hautes-Pyrénées grounds used for the qualifying rounds of the first French quilles de neuf club championship, alongside Loucrup and Hiis. Twelve clubs from Hautes-Pyrénées, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes and Gers took part, including Orincles itself.[16]
The traditional village festivities are associated with Saint Vincent, patron of the parish church.[17]
Heritage
_1.jpg)
The principal religious building is the Church of Saint-Vincent. Its exterior combines red brick and grey stone and is Gothic-inspired in appearance. Monumental stone crosses also survive at road junctions and beside the church.
The Pont Saint-Vincent crosses the Échez close to the village. The bridge was reinforced and consolidated in 2013 as part of municipal infrastructure works.[18]
Other elements of the village's built heritage include its town hall, war memorial, communal buildings and traditional roadside crosses.
_1.jpg)
The village.JPG)
Pont Saint-Vincent.jpg)
War memorial.jpg)
Cross beside the church
See also
References
- 1 2 "Le Conseil Municipal et les élus" (in French). Commune d'Orincles. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Populations de référence 2023 – Commune d'Orincles (65339)" (in French). INSEE. 29 December 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Commune d'Orincles" (in French). INSEE. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "CORINE Land Cover" (in French). Ministère de la Transition écologique. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Fiche climatologique – Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (65344001), période 1991–2020" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "ZNIEFF 730030362 – Réseau hydrographique des Angles et du Bénaquès" (in French). Inventaire national du patrimoine naturel. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "ZNIEFF 730030503 – Coteaux et vallons des Angles et du Bénaquès" (in French). Inventaire national du patrimoine naturel. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 Grosclaude, Michel; Le Nail, Jean-François (2000). Dictionnaire toponymique des communes des Hautes-Pyrénées (in French). Tarbes: Conseil général des Hautes-Pyrénées. ISBN 2-9514810-1-2.
- 1 2 "Archives déposées de la commune d'Orincles" (PDF) (in French). Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Plan cadastral d'Orincles, 1817" (in French). Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Orincles". Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui (in French). EHESS. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Les monographies communales de 1887" (in French). Archives départementales des Hautes-Pyrénées. p. 51. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Résultats des élections municipales 2026 à Orincles (65380)". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Comparateur de territoires – Commune d'Orincles (65339)" (in French). INSEE. 2 September 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "École – Présentation du RPI du Haut-Marquisat" (in French). Commune d'Orincles. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Quilles de 9 : Retour sur la finale du championnat de France des clubs" (in French). Fédération Française de Bowling et de Sport de Quilles. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Orincles. Très belles fêtes de la Saint-Vincent". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 1 February 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Orincles. Très belles fêtes de la Saint-Vincent". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 1 February 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
External links
- Official website (in French)
Media related to Orincles at Wikimedia Commons
