Tarbes benefits from its privileged location in the area of the Adour, a milder microclimate than at Lourdes, from a higher altitude, and somewhat less rainy than in Pau, and sunnier.

After many wanderings, she arrived in Bigorre and built her home on the Adour to found the town of Tarbes, and its sister, on the banks of the Gave de Pau, arose as Lourdes.

Then, Tarba experienced a Roman colonisation and acquired ancient villas and large agricultural estates, found particularly in the Ormeau quarter.

In the 5th and 6th centuries, as a result of the barbarian invasions which swept in successive waves, the city shrank around the castrum, of which a remnant remains in the rear courtyard of the prefecture.

Two noble houses were founded in the 13th century, outside the walls, one the convent of the Cordeliers near Carrère Longue, the other being that of the Carmelites in the vicinity of the Bourg Crabé.

At the end of the medieval centuries, the city was composed of six separate fortified towns, juxtaposed and aligned on an east–west axis, where the original core was ordered around the cathedral.

In the 17th century, after the plague and the problems of housing people of war, Tarbes ensured its revival with the reconstruction of the Episcopal Palace in 1652 (today the office of the prefecture), the foundation of a third hospital in 1690 and two new convents (Capuchins and Ursulines).

Then, the Constituent Assembly, which included Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac (Deputy of Bigorre to the Estates-General), decided to undertake administrative reform and Tarbes benefitted by becoming capital of the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées.

[9] In 1877, a donation by the former Mayor Antoine Brauhauban was responsible for the construction of an imposing hall which bore his name (this building was destroyed in 1970 to establish outdoor parking).

Today Les Forges de Tarbes still produce artillery shells for the French Army's Leclerc MBT and CAESAR self-propelled howitzer.

During World War II, the Resistance was also part of the everyday life of the town of Tarbes, which was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Its headquarters and its main industrial site are located on the outskirts of the Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport in the canton of Ossun, south of Grand Tarbes, where its facilities are spread over 53 hectares (130 acres), of which 80,000 square metres (860,000 sq ft) are covered surfaces.

Ossun, a neighbouring commune of the agglomeration, is also home to TARMAC, a company dedicated to the dismantling of aircraft for which it was necessary to construct an imposing building.

[17] Meridiana connects to Rome and finally Air Nostrum (Iberia Regional) offers two flights per week to Madrid Barajas.

The Gare de Tarbes railway station offers direct connections with Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bayonne and several regional destinations.

Tarbes is also served by the A64 allowing in the direction of Toulouse, to drive freely to Lannemezan or Capvern, and towards Bayonne and joining Pau, which is also accessible from the RD 817 [fr].

The urban area (aire d'attraction d'une ville) has 135,654 inhabitants (2018), and is the ninth of Occitanie behind Toulouse, Montpellier, Perpignan, Nîmes, Béziers, Narbonne, Montauban and Albi.

Not far away, the Police headquarters occupies two mansions built on the north walls filled in the 18th century to give birth to the current Rue Georges-Clemenceau.

Félicité Duvignau initiated this peculiarity, in Place Marcadieu, by bequest wishing for the building of fountains at each end of this vast esplanade.

[29] Inaugurated in 1897,[30] the monumental fountain of the Quatre-Vallées, combining cast iron and sculpture, figures the valleys of Bagnères, Aure, Argelès and the plain of Tarbes.

It is assisted in the north by the Droits de l'Enfant [Rights of the Child] fountain, where a water jet raises a ball which can be rotated by only the force of the wrist.

The Haras de Tarbes [fr] is composed of an 8 hectares (20 acres) park with Empire-syle buildings including the Maison du Cheval.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Jean-Baptiste Verchère de Reffye establishes, in the old store of tobacco in Tarbes, an artillery workshop commonly referred to as "Arsenal".

The ensemble is located in the axis of the Leclerc martial walkways which concentrate memorials including the monumental equestrian statue of Marshal Foch erected in 1935.

The former site of the Arsenal has been renovated to accommodate shops, places of leisure (cinema, a second bowling facility, laser quest,[33] restaurants, etc.

In contrast, the apse chapel is topped by a lantern tower which was enlarged in the Gothic period and the transept dating from the 12th century are primarily marked by the Romanesque origins of the building.

The current Théophile Gautier high school, once led by the Doctrinaires (brothers of Christian Doctrine), houses a chapel which has an altar which is classified as an historical monument.

In the La Sède quarter the prefecture and the cathedral are visible, the family home of Marshal Foch dating from the 17th century was converted into a museum.

It is thus a privileged relaxation area near to the Carmel exhibition hall, the Louis Aragon media library and the Berrens Park tennis courts.

Throughout the year, Tarbes offers all kinds of activities, here is a comprehensive list: January February March April May June July August September October November December The group of La Dépêche du Midi has a local daily edition as well as a comparable second edition branded as the La Nouvelle République des Pyrénées (the latter does not appear on Sunday unlike the first which is published every day).