Legend attributes it to Gaston Phoebus; but all
authorities do not agree as to this. The window-and door-openings, the
moldings, the accolade over the entrance doorway, and the machicoulis
all denote that they belong to the latter half of the fifteenth
century. These, however, may be later interpolations.
Originally one entered the chateau from exactly the opposite side from
that used to-day. The slope leading up to the rock and swinging around
in front of the town is an addition of recent years. Formerly the
plateau was gained by a rugged path which finally entered the
precincts of the fortress through a rectangular barbican.
Finally, to sum it up, the pleasant, smiling, trim little city of
Foix, and its chateau rising romantically above it, form a delightful
prospect. Well preserved, well protected and forever free from further
desecration, the chateau de Fois is as nobly impressive and glorious
a monument of the Middle Ages as may be found in France, as well as
chief record of the gallant days of the Comtes de Foix. Foix' Palais
de Justice, built back to back with the rock foundation of the
chateau, is itself a singular piece of architecture containing a small
collection of local antiquities.
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