Artistic and architectural heritage. The castle overlooking the town predates the town itself. Formerly the residence of the Viscounts of Zuberoa, it became the fiefdom of the ‘captains-castellans’, the governors of Zuberoa. It was partially destroyed on the orders of King Louis XIII in 1642 and rebuilt at the expense of the people of Soule in 1648. Famous in ancient times as the most powerful castle in the region of Guyenne, it remains, despite the passage of time, a fine example of medieval military architecture. In the Place de la Haute Ville (Upper Town), several medieval mansion houses can be seen.
In the centre of the cemetery stands the chancel, restored in 1983, of the Church of Saint-Jean de Berraute, a former Commandery of Saint John of Jerusalem dating from the 12th century, which served as a hospital on the Way of Saint James. With its ‘Calvary’ bell tower and Gothic nave now lost, this church served as the parish church for Mauléon and Licharre until the new one was built in the 19th century. In 1661, Arnaud François de Maytie, Bishop of Oloron, ordered the body of Father Matalas, who had been beheaded, to be buried at the foot of the high altar.
Next to the old cemetery lies the new landscaped cemetery, featuring modern disc-shaped gravestones.
The Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste was built in 1885 to replace the church of Saint-Jean-de-Berraute and the chapel of Licharre.
In the Plaza de la Villa Alta there is a chapel with a 15th-century ‘Calvary’ bell tower and old houses with arches, a reminder that Mauléon was originally a bastide, or fortified town. In the centre stands the old market, restored in 1980.
In Licharre, the Palais d’Andurain de Maytie, a superb Renaissance-style mansion with a steeply pitched shingled roof, four corner towers, carved gargoyles and beautiful mullioned windows, dates from the late 16th century. Three bishops of Oloron were born in this house and brought it to fame: Arnaud I, Arnaud II and Arnaud III de Maytie.
The Governors’ or Montréal mansion, named after its last owner, was built in the 17th century to plans by Mansart. It served as the sub-prefecture and, in the 21st century, houses the new Mauléon Town Hall.
the two palaces stands the White Cross, a marble monument erected in the 16th century on the site of the walnut tree under which the Court of Justice, or Court of Licharre, used to convene. Following its deterioration, it was restored and returned to its original location in 2000.
In the Place des Allées stands the so-called Maison du Patrimoine, which was the former Town Hall, built in 1860.
Libarrenx Castle, owned by the town of Mauléon, and in Licharre, Sunhary Castle, belonging to P. Southy.