DALZATE

DALZATE was born at Urtubie Castle on Basque Coast (South West of France), in the immediate vicinity
of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
This former castle built in 1341, had for mission, in the Middle Ages, to protect the populations but also to
treat them. His successive lords, all from the same family, used medicinal plants grown on the spot in a
medieval garden called : “Le jardin des simples”.
We call “simples” plants used since antiquity for their virtues and benefits, the “simplicis herba”. We qualified
them as simple in opposition to complex potions that scholarly medicine offered at this time.
Like gardens in monasteries, the “jardins des simples” of fortified castles are organized in regular, square or
rectangle flowerbeds, delimited by boxwood or boards. The plants are grouped according to their therapeutic
virtues.
Among these plants, verbena fragrant or lemon verbena develops very well. This plant is prepared in
infusions calming or digestive but is also used, nowadays, for manufacturing cosmetic products.
Verbena is a native plant of South America that has been brought back to France in the 19th century by
Basque immigrants from Argentina and Peru when they came back settle in the Basque Country.
The climate of the Basque Coast permit to cultivate verbena fragrant at the Urtubie Castle but also in all farms
surrounding.
Urtubie