The Pyrénées-Atlantiques is the department that brings together two regions and two cultures: the Basque Country, north of the Spanish border, and Béarn, a former sovereign county of which Pau was the capital and Henri IV the most illustrious representative. This cultural duality is reflected in a highly distinctive heritage of castles, ranging from Pyrenean fortresses to royal castles and Béarn-style houses.
Pau, whose castle houses the National Museum of the Château de Pau, featuring the tortoise shell that served as Henry IV’s cradle, is the historic capital of Béarn. Mauléon-Licharre, the former capital of Soule; Bidache, residence of the Dukes of Gramont; and Sauveterre-de-Béarn, whose fortified bridge and castle ruins overlook the Gave d’Oloron, bear witness to Pyrenean medieval architecture.
The Basque Country, with its red and green half-timbered houses and pelota courts, adds a touch of originality to the department’s rural architecture, whilst Biarritz and its Belle Époque villas recall the stay of Empress Eugénie, who made the Basque coast the aristocratic summer destination during the Second Empire.