Eglise Saint Martin

At the origin of the city, the Castle of Pau offers its visitors a journey of over a thousand years through local and national history. Many well-known historical figures are associated with this place. In the fourteenth century, as part of his "great Pyrenean plan" Gaston Febus made the Castle of Pau into an outstanding medieval fortress by building the iconic brick keep. During the Renaissance, Henry IV, "the only king remembered well by his people", was born at the Castle on 13th December 1553, where he was rocked in the famous turtle shell cradle. He lived a Bearnaise childhood, far from the pomp of the court, to then become one of the most popular kings in the history of France. The current appearance of the Castle is largely due to the great restoration work undertaken in the nineteenth century by Louis-Philippe, anxious to legitimise his political standing by linking it with that of the first of the Bourbons, Henry IV.