Château de Montaner

The Château de Montaner is a castle in the commune of Montaner in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of southern France.[1]

Château de Montaner
Coat of arms of Foix-Béarn

A castle was built on a motte in the 11th century by the Viscounts of Montaner.[1] It was reconstructed in 1375 by Sicard de Lordat on the orders of Gaston Fébus[1] to protect the frontiers of Béarn with Bigorre and Armagnac.[2] The architect, Sicard de Lordat, was also responsible for the Château de Pau and the Château de Morlanne and is noted for utilising brick in his constructions, its advantages being comparative cheapness and speed.[3]

It includes a vast polygonal enceinte with 20 sections supported by buttresses with two gateways and a 36 metre high square keep, accessed by a swing bridge.[4] Above the door to the keep is the majestic coat of arms of Foix-Béarn, itself capped with the words "Fébus mé fé" ("Fébus made me"). Since 1854, the Castle has been owned and managed by the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département. In summer, numerous spectacles and exhibitions are organised on the theme of the Middle Ages.[5]

The castle has been listed on the French Ministry of Culture's inventory of historic buildings since 1973 and classified as a monument historique since 1980.[1]

See also

References
  1. Base Mérimée: Château fort, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  2. "Une conférence du Professeur J.-F. FINO sur l'architecture militaire française au Moyen Age", Provins et sa région, bulletin No.121, page 24. Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de l'arrondissement de Provins. 1967 (in French)
    Raymond Ritter, "Bibliographie", Bulletin pyrénéen, number 221, July–September 1936, page 282, Section de Pau du Club alpin français et de la Société des excursionnistes du Béarn (in French)
  3. Henri Paul Eydoux, "Pierre Tucoo-Chala, Gaston Fébus. Un grand prince d'Occident au XIVe siècle" (review), Bulletin Monumental 1976, 134-2, page 166 (in French)
  4. Guide de Tourisme: Pyrénées p177, Michelin et Cie, 1980 ISBN 2-06-003661-5
  5. Website of the association "Les amis du château de Montaner" (in French)
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