Vieux Château de Mauléon

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

In the 15th century the castle was part of a defensive group with the castles of Pau and Lourdes. Mauléon has lost its keep but the present wall follows the layout of the 15th century. On the mountain side, a salient spur was not defended by towers. At this place, a basement appears to have formed tiered casemates (there remain corbels on the walls and traces of a vaulted staircase). Three towers dominate the whole. A remodeling opened a door with a drawbridge, decorated with a large shield in a cartouche prepared to receive the arms of the King of France, Louis XVIII or Charles X. The lower parts of the towers and curtain walls are in ashlar stone, raised with coursed rubble stone. A moat surrounds the whole and a three-arched bridge serves the entrance. The present main dwelling is established behind the door and one of the corner towers. In the corner tower, a vaulted basement takes access onto the courtyard by a remnant of masonry. The fortress castle served as a residence for the viscounts of Soule from the 11th to the 14th century. It then had to undergo English domination for nearly two hundred years until Gaston IV of Foix drove out the English in 1449. The castle was dismantled in 1642 on the orders of Louis XIII.