A small resort with a great deal of activity. With water sports, from
sailing, wind surfing, water skiing to skin diving and boat marina, all facilitated in the
calmer waters of the Bay of St. Jean de Luz & Ciboure and includes other sports such
as golf, tennis & pelote. Adjacent to the fishing port of Saint Jean-de-Luz and not
far from the Spanish border, with the beautiful scenery of the mountain of La Rhune and the rest of the Pyrenees Mountain foothills behind.
The town center of Ciboure is calm in comparison to its neighbor St. Jean and yet only 1
km from the hustle of St. Jean, Ciboure has a medieval background and old World charm
dating back to the 13th & 14th centuries with a lot of historic monuments around the
town, which includes the Church of Saint Vincent (built in the 16th century and the only
church with a hexagonal tower in this part of France and where Maurice Ravel the composer
was christened), the 17th century Fort of Socoa, the 14th century Tower of Bordagain, the
Convent & Cloisters of Recollets and much later (1926) the Villa
Leihorra built by the famous French architect Joseph Hiriart, which was classed as an
historical monument in 1995.
Moving forward in time from the middle ages, Ciboure has a famous Son, Maurice Ravel the
composer was born in Ciboure on March 7th 1875 to a Basque Mother and Swiss father. In
1928 he wrote "Bolero" whilst inspired on holiday in Ciboure. The house of Maurice Ravel still stands today facing the fishing port
of St. Jean
The principle Architecture here is all typical Basque.
Enjoy your visit!
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Visiter le Sud-Ouest
Holiday Guide to South West France
