Not quite, but Bayonne does play a legendary role in the history of chocolate! Chocolate’s origins trace back to the ancient Mesoamerican cultures, like the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs, who first cultivated cacao and made drinks from it as early as 1500 BCE. It was the Spanish who brought cacao to Europe in the 16th century, and it was Bayonne—a city with a long and lively history—where chocolate production flourished in France.

Jewish families fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions settled in Bayonne, bringing their chocolate-making skills with them in the early 17th century. They set up workshops and developed some of the first French chocolate, turning Bayonne into the country’s chocolate capital. This expertise helped France fall in love with chocolate, and Bayonne remains famous for it today, with numerous chocolatiers proudly carrying on the tradition.

So while chocolate wasn’t exactly invented in Bayonne, the city played a major part in making it an art in Europe and earned to be name the Capital of Chocolate.

Visit the Chocolate Museum and L’Atelier du Chocolat in Bayonne