Montaner Chateau

Fébus' dream between fortress and palace

There are castles perched on rocky outcrops that are visible from afar, and there are palaces you climb up to see far and wide!

This flagship which dominates the areas of Béarn and Bigorre, and gleams under the benevolent sun of the south west, will amaze you with its circular defensive wall and its keep of 40 metres which is still intact, and eyes the chain of the Pyrenees since the 14th century.

©Pierre Meyer

Coming from Maubourguet, you only see it at the last minute. Crossing the village of Montaner you pass at the foot of its church, which reveals exceptional friezes.

The visit to the chateau is the start of an adventure in time. That of Gaston Fébus.

We highly recommend taking the guided visit… there you will see not just a wall of dressed stone but the life in a boisterous palace.

Here there is the armoury, or the pennants, chain-mail, helmets, and models in period costume- which are maybe just resting phantoms!

A bit higher and the banquet hall invites you to dine

Finally at the top you can take in the unending panorama , surveying the highest points of the each peak of the pyrenees,with 360° of light.