Foix

The counts of Foix held a Pyrenean territory that resisted absorption into France for centuries, and their castle stands on a limestone outcrop over the town, its three surviving towers built in different periods: two square ones from the twelfth and fourteenth centuries and a round one from the fifteenth. Gaston Febus, count in the fourteenth century, wrote a celebrated treatise on hunting and made the court a literary centre. The castle later served as a prison, which preserved it. A modern museum inside covers the county and the region's prehistory, with demonstrations of medieval siege machines in the season.

Background

Foix was the capital of the old County of Foix and is now the capital of the Ariège department, though Pamiers is larger, and only Privas is a smaller departmental capital in France. The town probably began with an oratory founded by Charlemagne, and in 849 it became the Abbey of Saint Volusianus, around which urban life grew between the tenth and twelfth centuries. The castle's foundations go back to the early tenth century, and it served as a prison until 1864. In 1589 a Count of Foix, Henry of Navarre, became King of France as Henry IV. The arms show three red bars on gold. On Tuesdays local food producers sell at the Halle aux Grains.

Source: Wikipedia, "Foix"

What to look for

• The three towers - twelfth, fourteenth and fifteenth-century work side by side.
• The rock site - a castle on an outcrop directly above the town.
• The county museum - the Foix counts and Ariege prehistory.
• The siege demonstrations - trebuchets and medieval crafts in season.

When to go

April to October; the castle opens year-round with shorter winter hours. It is a practical base for the Ariege caves and Montsegur. The climb from town is short but steep.

Things to know

The interior is museum display rather than furnished rooms. Tower stairs are narrow and steep. The town below is modest.

Nearby

Niaux lies south; Montsegur is southeast.