Editing Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques (section)

== History ==

=== Toponymy ===
[[File:MapOfGascony.png|thumb|left|The location of Pau is shown on this map of the historical and cultural area of [[Gascony]].]]
The origin of the name is uncertain. One tradition suggests it is a derivation of ''pal'' (fr. ''pieu''), from the palisade around the original château. Another is that the name refers to a [[ford (crossing)|ford]] across the river administered by the church, the pious. According to Michel Grosclaude<ref>Michel Grosclaude, Dictionnaire toponymique des communes du Béarn, 2006, pg. 304</ref> and other onomasticians, more recent research suggests the pre-Indo-European root for a rockface was ''*pal'' or ''*bal'', and that the name refers to Pau's position at the foot of the mountains. The palisade or pal, from the Latin ''palum'', also has the same ancient basis but it is not under this meaning that formed the name of Pau, this can be compared to the Col de Pau in the Aspe Valley ({{convert|1942|m}}, [[Lescun]]) which has nothing to do with the city. Its name in the [[Béarnese dialect]] is ''Pau''.

The name of the town was recorded in the 12th century. The inhabitants of the city are known as ''paulins'' in Occitan, and ''palois'' in French. Their motto is ''Urbis palladium et gentis''.
[[File:ButteParcChateauPau.JPG|thumb|The footpath west from the Château]]

=== Origins ===
Before the 10th century, there are no traces to date of occupation of the site on which the city is now built. The city was built on a site with very special qualities. The [[Gave de Pau]], which descends from the Pyrenees, was a river which was fairly difficult to cross, and for a distance of approximately {{convert|50|km}}, only three fords existed: from Nay to the east, from Orthez to the west and that of Pau, strategically located between the two. The northern extremity of a plateau, formed to a point, overlooks this ford of almost {{convert|80|m}}. In summary, it is an ideal natural location to control the passage and the arrivals from the Pyrenees, and a small monitoring station was built around the year 1000, a fort surrounded by a simple palisade.

The site was fortified in the 11th century<ref>''Histoire de Pau'', pp. 11–15</ref> to control the ford across the Gave de Pau. It was built on the north bank, equidistant from [[Lescar]], seat of the bishops, and from [[Morlaàs]].

Until the 12th century, this fort was consolidated and some houses were combined there, together, in a small hamlet. The lords of Béarn then granted the status of [[viguerie]] (a small administrative district in the [[Middle Ages]]) to this new village which continued to expand gently. In [[Béarnese dialect|Bearnese]], the palisade was called Paü. Historians agree to this being the origin of the name of the city.

In the 13th century, new recognition of the importance and the expansion of Pau, which had become the town of Castelnau, with a [[bailli]] appointed by the [[viscounts of Béarn]].{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

[[Gaston III, Count of Foix|Gaston Fébus]] (descendant of the counts of Foix and one of the first iconic figures of Béarn), who was very attached to the independence of his small country. He began his major work to reinforce the strongholds of Béarn, including the Château of Pau where he finally settled.

Pau was made the capital of [[Béarn]] in 1464, instead of Orthez. During the early 16th century, the Château de Pau became the residence of the [[List of Navarrese monarchs|Kings of Navarre]], who were also viscounts of Béarn.

Pau is the only city in Europe in which two founders of royal dynasties were born: [[Henry IV of France]] of the [[House of Bourbon]], born in 1553, and [[Charles XIV John of Sweden]] of the [[House of Bernadotte]], born in 1763.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

=== History ===

==== Middle Ages ====
Pau was a castelnau founded at an unknown date, in the second half of the 11th or the very beginning of the 12th century,<ref>{{cite book|first=Pierre|last=Tucoo-Chala|title=Histoire de Pau|publisher=Éditions Privat|location=Toulouse|year=1989|id=collection Univers de la France|isbn=2-7089-8238-9|pages=11–15}}</ref> to control a fording of the Gave de Pau which was used for the passage of the shepherds in [[transhumance]] between the mountains of Ossau and pasture of the plain of the Pont-Long. A castle was built, overlooking the north bank, at equal distance from [[Lescar]], seat of the bishops, and from [[Morlaàs]], capital of the Viscounts of Béarn.

In 1188, [[Gaston VI, Viscount of Béarn|Gaston VI]] assembled his ''{{lang|fr|cour majour}}'' there, predecessor of the ''conseil souverain'' and roughly equivalent to the [[House of Lords]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} [[Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn|Gaston VII]] added a third tower in the 13th century. Gaston Fébus (Gaston III of Foix and Gaston X of Béarn) added a brick [[keep|donjon]] (keep), known as ''la tour Billère'' [the Tower of Billère].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

==== 16th–18th century ====
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Drapeau Béarn et Pyrénées.JPG|thumb|The [[Béarn]]ese flag, floating in the Pyrénées]]
In 1464, [[Gaston IV, Count of Foix|Gaston IV of Foix-Béarn]], after he married the Infanta [[Eleanor of Navarre|Eleanor of Aragon]], transferred his Court of Orthez to Pau.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://flagspot.net/flags/fr-bearn.html|title=Béarn (Traditional province, France)|access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref> Pau thus became the fourth historic capital of [[Béarn]], after [[Lescar]], [[Morlaàs]] and [[Orthez]]. The city had a municipal charter; fairs took place, like the Béarn states. He transformed the curtain walls of his castle home.

In 1512, it became the capital of the [[List of Navarrese monarchs|Kings of Navarre]], who were refugees north of the Pyrenees, after the capture of [[Pamplona]] by the Spaniards. In 1520, it had a sovereign council and a chamber of accounts.

In 1527, [[Henry II of Navarre|Henri d'Albret]], King of Navarre and sovereign viscountcy of Béarn, married [[Marguerite de Navarre|Marguerite of Angoulême]], sister of [[Francis I of France]]: She transformed the château in the [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance style]] and created its gardens.

In 1553, his daughter, [[Jeanne d'Albret]], gave birth to [[Henry IV of France|Henry III of Navarre]] by singing a song of Béarn to the Virgin Mary, so that the future Henry IV was "neither fearful nor balked." She had crossed into France to ensure her son would be born there. The baby's lips were moistened with the local [[Jurançon (grape)|Jurançon wine]] and rubbed with garlic shortly after birth. When Henry IV left Pau to become King of France, he remarked to local notables that he was not giving Béarn to France, but giving France to Béarn.

[[File:Parlement de Navarre Pau.JPG|thumb|Parlement de Navarre]]
The troops of [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]] took the city, but d'Albret took over in 1569. [[Catherine de Bourbon|Catherine of Bourbon]], sister of Henri IV, governed [[Béarn]] in his place.

In 1619, Pau revolted. [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] occupied it and, after receiving the submission of the fortified town of [[Navarrenx]], pronounced the attachment of Béarn and Navarre to France by the edict of 20 October 1620. It thus transformed the sovereign Council of Béarn in the Parliament of Navarre, joining the future courses of Pau and [[Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Saint-Palais]].

Pau had a new enclosure in 1649, and then a university in 1722.

King [[Charles XIV John of Sweden|Charles XIV of Sweden]], the first royal [[House of Bernadotte|Bernadotte]], was born in Pau in the 18th century.

On 14 October 1790, it was declared, after Navarrenx, the new capital of the Department of Basses-Pyrénées. This status was removed on 11 October 1795 in favor of [[Oloron-Sainte-Marie|Oloron]], then made permanent on 5 March 1796.

==== 19th century ====
[[File:Château d'Henri IV à Pau - Fonds Ancely - B315556101 A GORSE 6 003.jpg|thumb|300px|A panorama of the château and the Gave de Pau, around 1870]]
[[Napoleon]] expressed his interest and helped to save the château, which became a prison for a time.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} In 1838, [[Louis Philippe I|Louis-Philippe]] did boldly restore it, to highlight the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] and Renaissance character. [[Napoleon III]] added a double tower framing a false entry, to the West. He also added streets of [[Belle Époque]] architecture, before the fashion transferred to [[Biarritz]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

After the [[July Monarchy]], Pau became, between 1830 and 1914, had the most famous climate and sports resort in Western Europe.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} In 1842, the Scottish physician [[Alexander Taylor (physician)|Alexander Taylor]] (1802–1879) advocated Pau for a winter cure. The success of his work was important and Pau became a holiday resort for the British. In 1876, there were 28,908 inhabitants of Pau.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} The English settled there and took advantage of the first golf on the continent, of [[fox hunting]] (Pau fox hunt), and held races at the Pont-Long Racecourse. From the 1870s the ''Boulevard du Midi'' was gradually extended to the east and west to form the current ''[[Boulevard des Pyrénées]]'', the lavish Winter Palace – with a palmarium; and internationally renowned hotels, the Gassion and the France, which offered a majestic and luxurious setting for concerts and receptions to take place.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

[[File:Usine des tramways de Pau NB.jpg|thumb|The tram factory at the start of the 20th century]]
From 1894, Pau was served by a network of horse tramways. A few years later, [[Tram#Electric|electric traction]] was commissioned by the Béarnaise Society of Urban Streetcars. The network consisted of three lines, with a length of {{convert|7|km}}. It disappeared in 1931. The town of Pau was also served by the Pau-Oloron-Mauléon railway (POM), whose main station was found at the ''Place de la République''. Three lines served [[Monein]], [[Pontacq]] and [[Lembeye]]. [[Steam locomotive|Steam traction]] was used on the network, which disappeared in December 1931.

While the upper town thrived because of the coming of the rich European tourists, the lower city specialised in industry. Many small structures gradually developed at the foot of the château, the production focused on textiles and the food industry. Many of them marked this industrial fabric, such as Courriades dyes,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.larepubliquedespyrenees.fr/2012/12/01/la-basse-ville-de-pau-toute-une-histoire-a-redecouvrir,1108106.php|title=La basse ville de Pau, toute une histoire à redécouvrir|date=December 2012 |language=fr|trans-title=The lower town of Pau, a history to rediscover|access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref> the Heïd [[Gristmill|flour mill]] and the tram factory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/fr/aquitaine-2/tous-les-projets-166/detail-ancienne-usine-de-production-electrique-des-tramways-a-pau-2758|title=ANCIENNE USINE DE PRODUCTION ELECTRIQUE DES TRAMWAYS A PAU|language=fr|trans-title=OLD FACTORY PRODUCTION ELECTRIC TRAMS PAU|access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref>

[[Mary Todd Lincoln]], the widow of the American president, also lived in Pau for several years in the late 1870s.<ref>{{cite web|author=Thomas F. Schwartz And Anne V. Shaughnessy |url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/11/schwartz.html |title=Unpublished Mary Lincoln Letters |publisher=Historycooperative.org |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref>

==== 20th century ====
At the beginning of the 20th century, Pau was still a resort town where European nobility spent the winter. Good English, American, Russian, Spanish or Prussian society met in the Béarnaise city. Many public amenities were from this period, including the [[Funiculaire de Pau|Pau Funicular]] to connect the station to the upper town. Next to these public amenities, wealthy foreign visitors were building villas to improve the conditions of their stay. First built in the centre of town, these residences spread out more and more to enjoy the great outdoors and views of the Pyrenees.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Between 1850 and 1910, many residences were thus built and still evoke the splendour of this period, today. This golden period of climate tourism in Pau stopped abruptly at the outbreak of [[World War I]].

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Pau in the early 20th century">
File:Pau1900-2.jpg|Pau at the dawn of 20th century
File:LL 128 - PAU - La Montée de la Gare.jpg|A tramcar of the [[Tramway de Pau]] on the ''Montée de la Gare'', at the start of the 20th century
File:DT s%C3%A9rie 2 n%C2%B023 - PAU - Rue Nouvelle Halle.jpg|Rue de la Halle-Neuve, in 1904
File:CC 88 - PAU - Le Pont de Juricon et le Chateau.jpg|A general view, around 1910
</gallery>

The first balloon flights took place in Pau in 1844 and the first flights by [[airplane|plane]], from 1909, the year in which the [[Wright brothers]] transferred to Pau (on the moor of Pont-Long, in commune of Lescar). They had originally initiated a first aviation school at [[Le Mans]] (Sarthe Department), formed of three student pilots, who they were committed to train in France. Pau alone hosted seven global aircraft manufacturers until 1914 and became the world capital of aviation. The military aviation school, which trained the [[flying ace]]s of [[World War I]], then the fighter school of France, settled there. French aviators Thénault, Simon, [[Paul Codos]], [[Georges Bellenger (aviator)|Georges Bellenger Bellenger]], [[Roland Garros (aviator)|Garros]], [[Charles Nungesser|Nungesser]], [[Georges Guynemer|Guynemer]], and the [[Béarn]]ais aviators Artigau and Mace, among many others, and finally the American aviators [[Gervais Raoul Lufbery|Lufbery]], Thaw, Chapman, Prince and the McConnell brothers, were among those who flew there.

Pau hosted the [[18th régiment d'infanterie]], [[1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment|1st]] and [[18th Parachute Chasseur Regimen]] (parachute regiment) who were stationed in the town. All participated in the various conflicts of the 20th century. The 18th RCP was dissolved in 1961, due to having contributed to the [[Algiers putsch of 1961|putsch of the generals of Algiers]]. It had previously participated in the [[May 1958 crisis]] which had ended the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]]. The 1st RCP remained in barracks in 1983 in [[Idron]] camp when one of its elements was struck in Beirut by the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing|attack of the Drakkar building]], which had 58 victims among its troops.

During [[World War II]], the Continental Hotel collected many refugees, including Jews hounded by Vichy and the Nazis, even when the soldiers of the [[Wehrmacht]] requisitioned two floors of the hotel.<ref>Jean Touyarot, L'Hôtel des ombres, Seuil, 2011, 220 p.</ref>

From 1947, during the four mandates of Mayor [[Louis Sallenave]], the town of Pau experienced strong growth. In 1957, exploitation of the [[Lacq gas field]], discovered in 1951, gave new momentum to the region with the industrial development of Béarn and the Lacq area ([[Elf Aquitaine|SNPA]], [[Électricité de France|EDF]], [[Pechiney]] and [[Rhône-Poulenc]] being the most important employers),{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} the population of the town doubled in 20 years. Major infrastructure projects were carried out, such as the construction of several schools representing more than 100 classes, creation of the Pau-Uzein airport in 1955 (now the [[Pau Pyrénées Airport]]) to modernise the old Pau-Pont-Long airfield (in the commune of Lescar), creation of social housing (all of the ''Ousse des Bois'' in 1961, and Dufau Terrace from 1962), creation of the exhibition centre, the [[University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour]] and construction of a second bridge over the River Gave in Jurançon. A vast town planning scheme allowed the extension of the commune to the north through the ''coulée verte'' [green corridor]. The configuration of the city shortly moved from the end of the 1960s. The fame and prestige of the city increased thanks to the conference of the Indochinese States from June to November 1950,<ref>Voir l'explication des aboutissants de la conférence dans Hugues Tertrais, la piastre et le fusil. Le coût de la guerre d'Indochine, 1945–1954. Paris : ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie, Comité pour l'histoire économique et financière de la France, 2002, p. 95-102</ref> visits of Heads of State such as president [[Charles de Gaulle]] in February 1959 and the first Secretary of the [[Soviet Union]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], travelling in Lacq in 1960.

[[André Labarrère]], mayor from 1971 to 2006, worked towards a first step of the beautification of the city. Within its recent mandates, on the outskirts, the university was expanding and the Pau-Pyrénées was one of the first in France to develop a [[Optical fiber|fibre-optic]] network, infrastructure offering a very high-speed internet access both to individuals and companies. New facilities were created, including sports, such as the [[Zénith de Pau]]}, the [[Palais des Sports de Pau|Palais des Sports]], the [[Fronton (court)|Jaï Alaï]], and the [[artificial whitewater]] arena. The city acquired an important centre of health. The racecourse and the airport (depending on CCI) were renovated. The centre of town also saw significant upheavals with the rehabilitation of the [[Palais Beaumont]] and the construction of a new private commercial centre named ''Centre Bosquet''. Pau finally embarked on the pedestrianisation of its centre with the reconfiguration of its bus network, the renovation of the [[Place Clemenceau (Pau)|Place Clemenceau]], the central square of Pau, and the modernisation of the ''Palais des Pyrénées'', a shopping centre in the city centre, near to the ''Place Clemenceau''. New underground parking compensated for the removal of 400 parking spaces on the surface; also two underground car parks gained redesigned access.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Finally, a media library was created in 2012 in the Les Halles quarter.

==== 21st century ====
In 2008, at the end of a bitter political struggle, which included [[François Bayrou]], [[Martine Lignières-Cassou]] became mayor of Pau. During this term, she included the rebuilding of the water stadium and making the ''Rue Joffre'' pedestrian. She also allowed the realisation of the City of the Pyrénées which brought different associations related to Pyreneeism into one place.

In 2014, François Bayrou became mayor, after standing against [[David Habib]] in the election. Bayrou was clearly ahead in the second round of voting.

Bayrou was named [[Prime Minister of France]] in December 2024, but vowed to stay on as mayor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=François Bayrou se rendra au conseil municipal de Pau ce lundi et compte rester maire |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/politique/francois-bayrou-se-rendra-au-conseil-municipal-de-pau-ce-lundi-et-compte-rester-maire-16-12-2024-FOU5F6LGPJDUHFQ2PXQSKNUIHA.php |website=[[Le Parisien]] |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=François Bayrou reste maire de Pau et propose de revenir sur le non-cumul des mandats |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2024/12/17/francois-bayrou-reste-maire-et-propose-de-revenir-sur-le-non-cumul-des-mandats_6452692_823448.html |date=2024-12-17 |website=[[Le Monde]] |language=fr}}</ref>

=== Heraldry ===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|- valign="top"
| style="padding:8px" align="center" |[[File:Blason ville fr Pau (64).svg|130 px|Blason of Pau]]
|
* According to Paul Raymond (archivist) in his ''Topographical dictionary of the Béarn-Basque country'' (p.&nbsp;133) Pau arms are blazoned:
**''[[Azure (heraldry)|Azure]] to a fence of three [[argent]] footed [[Pale (heraldry)|pales]], surmounted by a peacock spreading its tail [[Or (heraldry)|or]], accompanied at point and inside two cows facing and crowned the same; the [[Chief (heraldry)|chief]] also [[Or (heraldry)|or]] charged with a natural tortoise shell surmounted by a Royal Crown closed azure enhanced of [[Or (heraldry)|or]], accompanied by the letter capital H dexter and sinister with the Roman numeral IV also azure''
[[File:Blason de Foix-Béarn.svg|80px|right|Blason de Foix Béarn]]
* '''Remarks'''
**These arms are "rebus" [[canting arms]] (''pau'' means "Palisade" in Bearnese), and of "approximation" form (the peacock said as ''pavon'' or ''pau'' [paw]).
**The Viscount of Foix-Béarn on who Pau depended, his arms are inspired by the three pales of Foix and the two cows of Béarn.
**In the blazon, the expression ''(with...) "the Roman numeral IV"'' is improper (IV is a ''number'' consisting of ''two'' Roman ''numerals'') best would be: ''(with...) "of an IV in Roman numerals."''
|- valign="top"
| style="padding:8px" align="center" |[[File:Blason ville fr Pau (64) Malte-B.svg|100 px|Blason of Pau]]
|
* According to [[Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun|Malte-Brun]] in ''The Illustrated France'' from 1882, they are blazoned:
**''Azure three pales and drawsheets of argent gathered by a [[fess]] of the same, middle pale surmounted with a peacock spreading its tail at chief, and two cows faced argent at point.''
* '''Remarks'''
**The chief, added in 1829, is not mentioned in his ''Illustrated France'' which dates back to 1882.
**Cows here are not crowned, so more resemble those of the arms of the Lords of Béarn, also not crowned.
**The peacock is not of specified colour. It was probably "au naturel". Found sometimes emblazoned thus for the current coat of arms.
|- valign="top"
| style="padding:8px" align="center" |[[File:Blason ville Fr Pau(64) ancien.svg|100 px|Former blason of Pau]]
|
*According to Paul Raymond in his ''Topographical dictionary Béarn-Basque country'' (p.&nbsp;133) the old arms were
**''Argent three pales of [[gules]] with a peacock spreading its tail the same perched on the middle.''
*According to Gaston of Breuille (of Pau, 1896) notes the ancient arms granted in 1482, by François-Phoebus, King of Navarre, were:
**''Argent, three pales of gules, the peacock spreading its tail azure perched on the middle.''
* '''Remarks:'''
**These blazons are certainly incomplete or defective, because it is unclear how a peacock (or whatever it is) could be placed on a pale that by definition goes to the top of the shield. The contradiction for the peacock colour is secondary ("De gules" – ''"of the same" as the pales'' – for Raymond or "Azure" for Du Breuille)
**However A. Fourcade in his ''Picturesque and historic album of the Pyrenees'' (p.&nbsp;9) described, in layman's terms, these arms: ''three pales, on one of which, namely the middle one is perched a peacock spreading its tail.'' granted by François-Phoebus (but in 1442 this time!)
**It seems that in fact it is not "pal-pièce honorable" [pale-honorable part], but a "pieux" [pious] furniture, which already foreshadows the color, the pale drawsheets formed at the foot which make up the barrier of the present coat of arms.
|}