Espelette (Basque: Ezpeleta) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.
It lies in the traditional Basque province of Labourd.
The town is attractive, with traditional Labourd houses and a castle. The protected sixteenth-century church, Saint-Etienne, has a Baroque altarpiece, and its graveyard has many traditional Basque discoidal tombstones. There is also the grave of local woman Agnès Souret, the first woman ever chosen as Miss France, in 1920. She died in Argentina aged 26 in 1928, and her body was repatriated to Espelette by her mother, who sold most of her possessions to provide a resting place for her daughter.
Agnès Souret (1902 – 1928)
Espelette is known for its dried red peppers, used whole or ground to a hot powder, used in the production of Bayonne ham. The peppers are designated as Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée and are hung to dry outside many of the houses and shops in the village during the summer. The peppers are sold in the town's Wednesday covered market and are honoured in a festival on the last Sunday in October.
