- Type
- Palace / château
- Location
- Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
- Style
- Renaissance architecture
- Commissioned by
- Gaston III, Count of Foix
- Architect
- Alexis Paccard, Louis-Auguste Couvrechef
- Coordinates
- 43.2947°, -0.3750°
History
The castle guarded a crossing of the Gave de Pau from at least the 12th century. In the 14th century Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn, turned it into a powerful fortress with a brick keep. In the second half of the 15th century Pau became the capital of Béarn, and in the 16th century King Henry d'Albret of Navarre and his wife Marguerite of Navarre, sister of Francis I, transformed the castle into a Renaissance residence surrounded by gardens. On 13 December 1553 their grandson Henry, the future king of Navarre and France, was born here. The castle was restored in the 19th century under Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III, and in the 20th century it became a national museum.
What to see
A bridge over the former moat leads to the castle, whose courtyard is overlooked by towers from different periods, including the tall brick keep of Gaston Fébus. The 19th-century apartments display a rich collection of tapestries, furniture and works of art associated with Henry IV. The greatest curiosity is a sea turtle shell which, according to tradition, served as his cradle. The terraces look out over the Gave valley and the chain of the Pyrenees.
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