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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Jeanne-d'Albret Museum is housed in an old 16th-century residence belonging to Jeanne d'Albret, mother of Henri IV and queen of Navarre. This building, offered to Jeanne in 1555 by Arnaud de Gachissans in exchange for letters of nobility, served as a residence during his stay in Orthez. The house is distinguished by its staircase in an octagonal turret and remains of the city walls.

The house, classified as a Historic Monument in 1929 and partly in 1974, was restored in the 1980s after its acquisition by the city. Today, it is home to a museum dedicated to Bear Protestantism, from its conversion by Jeanne d'Albret to the 19th and 20th centuries, including figures such as Elisha Reclus or Manuel Matamoros.

The museum presents collections of objects, portraits and documents from the Centre d'étude du Protestantisme Béarnais, inaugurated in 1995. These archives, originally kept at the Departmental Archives of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, illustrate the wars of Religion, persecutions, and the evolution of Protestantism in Béarn.

The architecture of the house, with its façades enlarged in the 16th century, its snout windows and its dovecote with wooden strips, reflects its status as a noble residence. The polygonal turret, topped by an arrow roof, and the outbuildings of rolled pebbles testify to the constructive techniques of the era.

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