Home / History

SASSIS is a very small village, nicely situated on the banks of the Gave and next to a dry mountain called LAZE. This mountains has two different aspects :

On one side the overgrowth of the mountain is very wild, but on the other side the mountain offers a magnificent landscape.

The gave, which has the village Sassis on its left bank, passes trough a wonderful valley, the valley of LUZ with the many silver poplars who point their crown proudly up to the sky, while at their feet you'll find a carpet of green grass.

Not far from the village appears a small town called LUZ which is dominated by the ruines of the Saint Mary Castle, known for its historical souvenirs. You arrive in this town, mainplace of the Canton, by a beautiful road of about 2km and you pass nearby the village SAINT SAUVEUR visited for the mineral waters. The tourists going to this spa, most of the time pass by the road of SASSIS; also the passing by of cars and busses during the tourism season makes the village revive a bit.

It's the reverend Father from SAZOS who is taking care of the Masses in SASSIS. The tax office, even so the post and telegraph services are situated in LUZ. The mayor and his council are administrating a village with only about 100 inhabitants.

Most of all this village harvests wheat, corn, buckwheat and potatoes (etc, ...). The corn is one of the most important crops in SASSIS and is the most important food of this village, together with the vegetables and the milk products. Also apples, to make cider, and nuts, to make a sort of oil, are important products of SASSIS.

The Gave brings lots of trout, well known for their excellent taste, to the village and offers another sort of earning to most of the inhabitants.

Then about the traditional costume, it is the costume that each person of Barèges wears. The costume for men consists of a vest and a pair of trousers, made of thick cloth that the farmers make themselves, then there are also thick clogs, that also serve as mountain shoes when necessary. And of course, the hairstyle needs a beret.

The women are also dressed in a woolen cloth, made in the region and also of a beautiful quality. They wear a shawl which is crost on the chest and made in a floating knot on the back. A red capulet makes the costume complete.
At last, a hood, as well for men as for women, is a kind of cloak with a hood and really made for the cold winters over here. This costume, even very thick, reveals its originality and its style.

People from this region, say that SASSIS was a large town before, but because of the pestilence, this town was reduced to the small village it is now. Even so the church is so old, that probably this is just a legend and SASSIS had never more inhabitants than it has now.

C. MONCASSIN
Teacher at SASSIS (1887)