Labourd · Iparralde

Espelette

Ezpeleta

Around 2,150 inhabitants, the village that gave its name to the PDO pepper and a real postcard of the Basque Country. In late summer and autumn, the façades are covered with strings of red peppers. A village that lives all year round and really comes alive for the Pepper Festival, on the last weekend of October.

Espelette in 30 seconds

Around 2,150 inhabitants (2,155 in 2023, according to Insee, France’s national statistics institute), a municipality in Labourd (Lapurdi), in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. The village gave its name to the Espelette pepper (piment d’Espelette), which was awarded French AOC status (appellation d’origine contrôlée) in 2000, then European PDO status (AOP) in 2002. Having reached the Basque Country around 1650, the pepper is grown in an area covering ten municipalities (Espelette, Ainhoa, Cambo-les-Bains, Halsou, Itxassou, Jatxou, Larressore, Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, Souraïde and Ustaritz), where it is harvested until 1 December.

What to see

Façades hung with peppers

In late summer and autumn, the growers thread the peppers by hand into strings and hang them up, notably on the house fronts. After a period of ripening, the peppers are either kept whole on their strings, or have their stalks removed and are dried at a low temperature in an oven. This is where you take the photo.

The castle of the barons of Espelette

The barons of Ezpeleta had a castle (Château des Barons d’Espelette) built here around the year 1000. Excavations in 1997 revealed a late-medieval fortress: a curtain wall flanked by five polygonal towers. In 1694, Baroness Juliana Henriquez, who died without an heir, bequeathed it to the inhabitants. The corner tower was listed as a historic monument (monument historique) in 1937, and the whole castle in 1993. Today it houses the town hall, the tourist office and two permanent exhibitions, one of them about the pepper; one exhibition is devoted to Agnès Souret, the first Miss France (1920). Open all year round; a visit takes about 45 minutes.

The Church of Saint-Étienne

Its nave was completed in 1593; the keep-like bell-tower porch dates from 1667 and the Renaissance doorway from 1627. Inside are three tiers of wooden galleries, reserved for men until the 1970s, and an 18th-century baroque altarpiece in gilded wood, decorated with scenes of the martyrdom of St Stephen. The whole church has been a listed historic monument since 2014. In the churchyard stands the Art Deco tomb of Agnès Souret, Miss France 1920.

Mondarrain (Mondarain)

A 750-metre summit with distinctive boulders, a popular hiking destination for its panoramic views.

The pottok, a Basque symbol

Every year Espelette hosts a fair of pottoks, the small Basque horses, on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of January.

Market and events

  • Market: Wednesdays, all year round.
  • Course des Crêtes (ridge race): the first weekend of July, for more than 40 years (courses from 7 to 28 km).

Where to buy the real pepper

You’ll find PDO pepper at growers in the village and in the other municipalities of the appellation, as well as at markets.

See also our complete guide to Espelette pepper.

Getting there

  • Car: from Bayonne (Baiona)
  • Train: no station in Espelette; the Bayonne–Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port line serves the nearby station of Cambo-les-Bains
  • Bus: the Txik Txak network links Bayonne, Cambo-les-Bains and Espelette

1-day itinerary

  • Morning: the barons’ castle and its pepper exhibition, then the Church of Saint-Étienne
  • Midday: lunch in the village
  • Afternoon: a stroll through the streets and their decorated façades
  • Late afternoon: a break facing the fronton (pelota wall)

The Pepper Festival (late October)

Around 20,000 visitors in a village of 2,000 inhabitants; since 2014 the festival has been included in France’s Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Inventaire du patrimoine culturel immatériel). Organised by the Brotherhood of Espelette Pepper and Axoa (Confrérie du piment et de l’axoa d’Espelette), it brings together a food and craft fair, bandas (brass bands), a solemn mass with the blessing of the peppers, a parade of brotherhoods and the induction of new members. In 2026 it takes place on Sunday 25 October — see our festival page.

Notable people and historical figures linked to Espelette

  • Father Armand David (1826–1900) — naturalist and Lazarist missionary, born in Espelette, known for introducing the giant panda to Western science during his mission in China; Père David’s deer and the handkerchief tree (Davidia) are named after him.
  • The barons of Espelette — lords of the castle (now the town hall and tourist office), which was bequeathed to the inhabitants in 1694.
  • The Brotherhood of Espelette Pepper and Axoa, which organises the festival, and the Espelette Pepper Producers’ Union (Syndicat du piment d’Espelette, founded in 1993), which championed the designation of origin (AOC in 2000): institutions that embody the village’s identity today.

What’s on

My favourite photo

A façade covered in peppers in September, tightly framed, in the morning light. Come early to avoid the tour groups.

Sources

Ongi jin Ezpeletara — Welcome to Espelette.

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