Last modified: 2025-10-11 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: foix | aveyron | county of foix |
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Foix (9,731 inhabitants, 1,932 ha) is a commune, the former capital of
the County of Foix and the capital of the department of Ariège.
The Romans built a fort on the steep rock from which Foix castle now dominates the town. The town of Foix probably owes its origin to an oratory founded by Charlemagne, which afterwards became the Abbey of Saint Volusianus in 849. The founding, in 849, of the Abbey Saint-Volusien allowed the development of urban living in the tenth century to the twelfth century.
The castle, whose foundations date back to the early tenth century, was a strong fortress that withstood the repeated attacks of Simon de Montfort IV between 1211 and 1217, during the Albigensian Crusade. In 1272, when the Count of Foix refused to recognize the sovereignty of the king of France, Philip the Bold personally took the leadership of an expedition against the city, and subsequently the count surrendered. In 1290, at a meeting of the Béarn region and the county of Foix, the city was practically abandoned by the Counts. Gaston Phoebus was the last to have lived in the castle, and by the sixteenth century the castle had lost its military purpose. The castle was then used as a prison until 1864.
Foix reached its economic peak in the 14th century. It owed its prestige to its role as the county capital, seat of the Estates of Foix and the Governors of the Pays de Foix. In 1536 the first Reformation preaching in Foix began, and in 1579 the church of Montgauzy was destroyed. The same fate awaited the abbey and its church in 1581. The following year, Foix was retaken by Catholics, and in 1589 the Count of Foix, Henry of Navarre, was crowned King of France and became Henry IV. In 1607, King Henry IV united the county with the domain of the Crown of France.
It was this glorious heritage that led Foix to be chosen as the capital of the new department of Ariège in 1790. As a founding city of the World Federation of Twin Cities, Foix was one of the first municipalities in France to establish relations with a Spanish city, Lleida, in 1962.
Olivier Touzeau, 7 October 2025
The commune of Foix flies the traditional flag of the County of Foix, a banner of the arms Or three pallets gules.
The flag
is vertically divided in 7 stripes: Y-R-Y-R-Y-R-Y: photo (2019), photo (2025).
Olivier Touzeau, 7 October 2025