Restoration work began in August on the 17th century Sephardic cemetery in Bidache, in southwestern France, just east of Bayonne and near the Spanish border.
According to the news site sudouest.fr, the works will concentrate on restoration of the monumental arched gateway of the cemetery, which was founded in the mid-17th century after the dukes of Gramont, the ruling family, welcomed Jewish refugees fleeing Spain and Portugal.
The Jewish Liturgical Organization of Bayonne-Biarritz, which owns the site, is leading the restoration in cooperation with architect Soizic Le Goff. Go-ahead for the work was granted in June.
Sud Ouest reports that the regional cultural affairs directorate of the Pyrenees-Atlantiques region is contributing €6000 for the first stage of the project.
According to the French Culture Ministry, which lists the cemetery as a historical monunents, the cemetery was used from the mid-17th century until the late 18th century. Pictures show neat rows of flat-slab tombstones in the Sephardic tradition. According to a Sephardic Genealogy web site:
Gérard Nahon recorded 62 inscriptions from the beit haim in his Inscriptions funéraires hébraïques et juives à Bidache, Labastide-Clairence (B. Pyr.) et Peyrehorade (Landes), 1968. Names reported from the cemetery include: Dacosta, Henriquez Lopez Nunez, Depas and Alvares.
Dr. Samuel D. Gruber summarizes information on the cemetery on his blog.
Read the JTA report on the restoration