Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally meaning "Saint John at the foot of the mountain pass" in French) (Basque: Donibane Garazi) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean foothills. The town is also the old capital of the traditional Basque province of Lower Navarre.
Traditional crafts and foods remain in the town, including Basque linen from the Inchauspé family since 1848. The town is now an important tourist centre for the Pyrenees and the French Basque country and there are shops, restaurants and hotels.
The Basque cuisine is one of the finest cuisines around. St Jean Pied de Port specialize in fromage de brebis or OssauIraty, sheep's cheese, local trout and pipérade, omelette with peppers and Bayonne ham.
Mondays see a large market, with sheep and cattle driven into the town. At 5pm, there is a communal game of bare-handed pelote at the fronton. There are large fairs four times a year.