Editing Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques (section)

=== 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]]