Bastide de Montaut

Between Béarn and Bigorre, Montaut was created in 1308 by the Viscountess of Béarn. Today there are still remnants of the original walled town. First the facades of traditional Béarnaise houses from the 18th century that attest to a time of prosperity due to the extraction of lime. These furnaces dot the landscape and form it, with the church, fountains, laundries. The church, from 1540, on the central square (an exception in the walled towns), was transformed into a Protestant church during the French Wars of Religion. In the 12th century, it was a pilgrimage site, near Lourdes, which led to a major industry in the 17th century of buttons and rosaries.