The mighty St. Gallus church from the 17th to 18th century sits enthroned above the city. The church was constructed on a pre-Christian cult site and was redesigned on multiple occasions by the famous baroque master builders of the Bregenz Forest.
The church was built to the site of pre-Romanesque church founded around 450 AD. Irish monks Columbanus and his brother Gallus founded the destroyed church in 610 AD and ordered to rebuild it.
The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.
In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians.