Ascain

A modest Basque town in the French Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Ascain sits on the Nivelle river at the foot of La Rhune — the last peak of the Pyrenees before the Atlantic coast — and borders Spain at its summit. The writer Pierre Loti composed his novel *Ramuntcho* here, and the politician Jacques Chaban-Delmas is buried in the town. During the Second World War, Ascain was active in organising clandestine escapes across the border into Spain.

• Population3,365
• Nearest water0.2 km
• Nearest mountain4.3 km
• UNESCO within 50 km2