Foix

Foix lies beneath the towers of its castle, on a rocky spur above the Ariège. The fortress was the seat of the counts of Foix, whose power grew through inheritance and marriage to embrace lands on both sides of the Pyrenees. Their castle also held records of the county and its share in the government of Andorra. In 1607 Henri IV, the last count, united Foix with the French crown; the castle remained a royal stronghold and prison.