Occitanie · Ariège, France

Château de Foix

Three proud towers on a rock above the Ariège — seat of the Counts of Foix, most famously Gaston Fébus, the hunting, writing, self-mythologising 'sun prince' of the Pyrenees. The castle shrugged off Simon de Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade and never fell to siege.

At a glance

Built: 10th–15th centuries
Style: Comital mountain castle, three towers
Commissioned by: Counts of Foix
Signature feature: Three towers (two square, one round) crowning the town rock
Gaston Fébus: The celebrated 14th-century count, author of the Livre de chasse
Record: Resisted Simon de Montfort's sieges in the Albigensian Crusade
Today: Departmental museum of the Ariège with medieval demonstrations
Visiting: Open to visitors year-round