Rabastens-de-Bigorre

Rabastens-de-Bigorre

In the plain of the Adour, north of Tarbes, Rabastens is a royal bastide founded on 13 February 1306 by the seneschal Guillaume de Rabastens, who came from the Tarn and was the local representative of Philip the Fair, and who gave it the name of his own town of origin. The church of Saint-Louis, Gothic, built in the following decades, is the only remnant of the original bastide, and its dedication tells of the Capetian foundation. The town had its tragic hour in July 1570: Blaise de Montluc, the king's lieutenant, laid siege to Rabastens, held by the Protestants of the queen of Navarre; disfigured by an arquebus shot, he asked for a truce and promised the inhabitants their lives, a word he betrayed by massacring them on 23 July, which earned him the nickname "lou nase de Rabastens". The castle and the fortifications were destroyed in 1594. Rabastens, which became Rabastens-de-Bigorre in 1962, remains a town of the cattle market.

Getting there : Town freely accessible. A cattle market is documented; enquire at the commune for the days.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound