Construction of dread 1512 (≈ 1512)
Under Ferdinand d'Aragon, first quarter of the 16th.
1521
French-Spanish Conflict
French-Spanish Conflict 1521 (≈ 1521)
Confrontations around the site.
1793
Destruction by the Spanish
Destruction by the Spanish 1793 (≈ 1793)
Shaved by General Caro.
25 juillet 1813
British offensive
British offensive 25 juillet 1813 (≈ 1813)
Fight between English and French.
15 septembre 1993
Historical Monument
Historical Monument 15 septembre 1993 (≈ 1993)
Protection of the dread and its basement.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Redout, as well as its archaeological subsoil (Box E 20): inscription by order of 15 September 1993
Key figures
Ferdinand d'Aragon - Sponsor
Ordonna built it in 1512.
Général Caro - Spanish military
Rasa the dread in 1793.
Maréchal Soult - French Commander
Directed the troops in 1813.
F. Gaudel - Researcher
Studyed the site and its history.
Origin and history
The dread of Château-Pignon, located in Saint-Michel in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, is a military monument built at the beginning of the 16th century, in 1512, under the impulse of Ferdinand d'Aragon. The structure consists of an initial polygon, probably a quadrilateral, whose foundations (1 to 1.80 m wide) define an internal area of 600 to 650 m2. Two annexes, one trapezoidal and the other semicircular, reinforced the structure eastward, southward, westward and northwest, equipped with firing flares. Today, only a portion of the northeast wall remains well preserved.
A witness of border tensions, the dread was the scene of major conflicts: razed in 1793 by Spanish General Caro, it also saw fighting in 1521 (French against Spanish) and in 1813 (British offensive against Marshal Soult's troops). The hypothesis linking the site to the Summus Pyrenaeus of the Itinerary of Antonin has been abandoned. Built at an altitude of 1,177 m, it may rest on an unidentified anterior building. Damaged by wild excavations and reused as a hunting post, it preserves traces of external fighting dating from 1521 to 1813.
Ranked Historic Monument in 1993 (decree of 15 September) for its archaeological and defensive interest, the dread now belongs to an association. Its protected basement potentially contains remains of the three centuries of conflict that marked the site. The studies carried out, notably by F. Gaudel, underline his key role in the defence of the Western Pyrenees, between the Kingdom of France and the crown of Spain.
The exact location remains imprecise (level 5/10), with an administrative address in Saint-Michel (code Insee 64492) and GPS coordinates pointing to the Napoleon Route in Arneguy. The site, though ruined, offers a material testimony of military strategies from the 16th to the 19th century, in a context of repeated territorial rivalries.
