Château de Pau

The Château de Pau is a castle in the centre of the city of Pau, the capital of Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Béarn. It dominates that quarter of the city.Henry IV of France and Navarre was born here on December 13, 1553 and it was once used by Napoleon as a holiday home during his period of power.The château has been classified as a Monument historique since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. Nowadays it contains a collection of tapestries.HistoryOriginsPau Castle was founded in the Middle Ages. Work before any military, is a castle typically built on top of the hill overlooking the Gave bounded by ravine Hédas.Since its construction, the castle takes on a symbolic importance: providing a stockade (poor, in Bearn) designate, by metonymy, the city itself. These piles, symbolizing loyalty and righteousness, are each asaxis mundiin a version of béarnaise. In the twelfth century Gaston IV of Béarn built three towers at the fortress. They are called Mazères Billère and Montauser.