SOULE

'Soule' (''Zuberoa'', ''Xiberu'' or ''Xüberoa'' in Basque, ''Sola'' in Gascon) is a former French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''.
Its provincial capital is Mauléon, which fused with Licharre in 1841 to form "Mauléon-Licharre", but today is often known as "Mauléon-Soule". Historically, Soule was the smallest province of the Basque Country.

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Culture

Culture

There is a tradition of folk musical theatre, the ''pastoral'': the inhabitants of village spend the year preparing and rehearsing the play and its dances.
Traditionally, the subject of the play was Catholic, but recently pieces of Basque history are also presented.
Soule has been a bilingual province for centuries due to the proximity of Béarn, and the Basque souletin dialect has been influenced by the Béarnese romance language.
Zuberoan is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the region.