Vacation Day 3: Foix

The château de Foix is quite impressive, lording over the small city like any good castle should. Foix and its castle played in important role in the history of the Cathars (medieval-era sect of the Catholic church; quick refresher course in my blog entry from last April's castle tours) and their persecution. The Château de Foix is important to France's history also because Foix was ruled by the Counts of Foix, who then became the Kings of Navarre, and the last King of Navarre was Henri IV, who became King of France, bringing with him into the Kingdom of France the land in the Pyrenees.

Château de Foix

The tour rond, the round tower, is the newest of the three towers, constructed in the early part of the 15th century


The round tower was used as a prison during the 18th-19th centuries. The walls inside are covered with "graffiti" carved into the stone:







The tour carré, square tower, is the oldest of the three, dating most probably from the late 10th century

The middle tower was called tour neuve for some time after its construction in the 13th century, relating its "newness" compared to the old tower

view of Foix from the castle

Eglise Saint-Volusien, originally built in the early 12th century, much of the church was destroyed during the wars of religion. It was rebuilt during the first part of the 17th century.

More pictures can be found here.