 In summary, it is an ideal natural location to control the passage and the arrivals from the Pyrenees, and a small monitoring station was built around the year 1000, a fort surrounded by a simple palisade.The site was fortified in the 11th century to control the ford across the Gave de Pau.It was built on the north bank, equidistant from Lescar, seat of the bishops, and from Morlaàs.