Château de Pau

The origins of the Château de Pau date back to the Middle Ages, when it was constructed as a military fortress on a hill overlooking the Gave de Pau river. A palisade of stakes (pieux in French, pau in the Bearnese dialect) surrounding the castle gave the city its name. In the 12th century, Gaston IV of Béarn expanded the complex with three towers, named after the surrounding villages of Mazères, Billère, and Montauser. Gaston III of Foix-Béarn, better known as Gaston Phébus, shaped the castle in the 14th century. Despite the challenging location of his possessions between France and England, he succeeded in forming Béarn into an independent territory. He commissioned the construction of the 33-meter-high brick keep, which bears the inscription “Febus me fe”.