Navarrenx

Navarrenx is a commune in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department, situated on the Gave d’Oloron river. The town is enclosed within one of the earliest examples of Italian-style bastion fortification in France, built between 1538 and 1549 in the service of Henri d’Albret, King of Navarre.

The ramparts form an almost complete circuit with angle bastions, a dry moat, and a monumental gate. The interior retains a coherent sixteenth-century character. For pilgrims on the Via Podiensis, Navarrenx is one of the most architecturally exceptional stops on the Pyrenean approach.