The château fort de Lourdes is a historic castle located in Lourdes in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, France. It is strategically placed at the entrance to the seven valleys of the Lavedan. The castle's origins go back to Roman times, but today the oldest remains date from the 11th and 12th centuries and consist of the foundations of the present fortifications. The castle was reinforced in the 13th and 14th centuries (the construction of the keep), and again in the 17th and 19th centuries. From 1590, under the reign of King Henry IV, the castle became a prison, and was then later used as a barracks, before becoming a museum around the turn of the 20th century. Since 1933, it has been listed as a monument historique by the Ministry of Culture. This panoramic photograph shows the castle in 2018, with parts of the surrounding town and the peaks of the Pyrenees in the background.Photograph credit: Moahim