Foix: The Counts' Castle on the Rock
Occitanie, France
Badge Unlock
Foix Towers Climber
Complete this challenge to add this badge to your collection.
200
XP
+100 France
= 300 total
1 day
Foix: The Counts' Castle on the Rock
200 + 100 XP
The castle of Foix stands on a rock platform above the town and was built to command the way into the upper valley of the Ariège. It is first mentioned in a charter of the early 11th century and was probably built at the end of the 10th; in 1002 Roger I, count of Carcassonne, left it to his younger son Bernard, and in 1034 it became the capital of the county of Foix. The first castle was a single tower on the highest point of the rock. In the Albigensian Crusade Simon de Montfort ravaged the county in 1211 but never took the castle; in 1214 the count handed it to the papal legate as a pledge of submission, and he got it back only in 1218. There were Cathars in the county, but the castle itself was never their refuge — the counts were trying to keep their independence. Much restored in the 19th century, it has been a historic monument since 1840 and holds the Musée départemental de l'Ariège.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Climb the rock to the castle from the town, passing the two gatehouses and the barbican that guard the approach on the Saint-Girons side, then go up all five vaulted floors of the round tower, 34 m of it with walls four metres thick — and notice from inside that the rooms are hexagonal even though the tower is round, and that no defensive tower here has an opening below the first floor
2
of 4
In the rooms of the round tower that were used as cells, find the graffiti the prisoners cut into the walls — the whole castle was turned into a prison from the 18th century, holding about a hundred men at the start of the 19th and close to 200 by 1859, in a building with nowhere near enough rooms to separate them
3
of 4
Work through the Musée départemental de l'Ariège, here since 1930, and find three things in particular: the rooms on medieval building technique, the room on the castle's century as a prison, and the bed said to be Henri IV's. Then look for how the counts paid for the place — Gaston Fébus shut the lords he captured at Launac in 1362 in these cells until their families ransomed them, and spent the money on building.
4
of 4
In the middle tower, find the keystone of the first-floor vault and the seal carved on it — Aliénor de Comminges, wife of Gaston II and mother of Gaston Fébus, which is what dates the vaulting to the early 14th century — then compare the fine sandstone of the great tower against the rough limestone of the rock it stands on, and work out why they carted the better stone up here
Climb the rock to the castle from the town, passing the two gatehouses and the barbican that guard the approach on the Saint-Girons side, then go up all five vaulted floors of the round tower, 34 m of it with walls four metres thick — and notice from inside that the rooms are hexagonal even though the tower is round, and that no defensive tower here has an opening below the first floor
In the rooms of the round tower that were used as cells, find the graffiti the prisoners cut into the walls — the whole castle was turned into a prison from the 18th century, holding about a hundred men at the start of the 19th and close to 200 by 1859, in a building with nowhere near enough rooms to separate them
Work through the Musée départemental de l'Ariège, here since 1930, and find three things in particular: the rooms on medieval building technique, the room on the castle's century as a prison, and the bed said to be Henri IV's. Then look for how the counts paid for the place — Gaston Fébus shut the lords he captured at Launac in 1362 in these cells until their families ransomed them, and spent the money on building.
In the middle tower, find the keystone of the first-floor vault and the seal carved on it — Aliénor de Comminges, wife of Gaston II and mother of Gaston Fébus, which is what dates the vaulting to the early 14th century — then compare the fine sandstone of the great tower against the rough limestone of the rock it stands on, and work out why they carted the better stone up here
Before you go
The castle is a paid site: about €13.50 for an adult in the main season and €12.50 in winter. It closes on Mondays outside school holiday weeks, on 1 January and 25 December, and it does not reopen after the Christmas period until early February, so most of January is out. The approach is a steep climb on foot from the town and the visit is five floors of tower stairs, with no lift: it is not suitable for anyone who cannot manage stairs. There is no parking at the castle itself.
Finding nearby campsites...
About Occitanie
Loading region info…
Explore more about Occitanie:
Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
More challenges nearby
within 100km
The Grotte du Mas-d'Azil: A Road Through a Prehistoric Cave
France · Occitanie
adventure
easy
1d
23 km away
The Camp du Vernet: A Memorial to the Interned
France · Occitanie
history
easy
1d
25 km away
Mirepoix: The Carved Beams of the Maison des Consuls and the Widest Gothic Nave in Languedoc
France · Occitanie
history
easy
1d
26 km away
Aulus-les-Bains and the Cascade d'Ars: The 246m Falls of the Couserans
France · Occitanie
nature
medium
1d
29 km away
Ax-les-Thermes and Orlu: The Lepers' Pool, the Wolf House and the Reserve under the Frontier Peaks
France · Occitanie
nature
hard
2d
33 km away
Pica d'Estats: The Roof of Catalonia
Spain · Catalonia
nature
hard
7d
38 km away