page_title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
section_title: Centres and cultural facilities
hierarchical_section_title: Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques / Culture / Centres and cultural facilities
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le Palais Beaumont est, à Pau, à la fois un centre de congrès et un casino. Originellement dénommé Palais d'Hiver, il voit le jour à la fin du XIXe siècle. Mélangeant les styles architecturaux, il est plusieurs fois remanié et, après un demi-siècle d'oubli, il est, en 1996, restauré par l’architecte François Lombard.
context_page_description: Pau is a commune overlooking the Pyrenees, and capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Département in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
  The city is located in the heart of the former sovereign principality of Béarn, of which it was the capital from 1464. Pau lies on the Gave de Pau, and is located 100 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean and 50 kilometres from Spain. This position gives it a striking panorama across the mountain range of the Pyrenees as well as the hillsides of Jurançon. The appellation Horizons Palois has been created with the aim of protecting the view, in particular from the Boulevard des Pyrénées which extends for 1.8 kilometres from the Château de Pau to the Parc Beaumont. Alphonse de Lamartine said: "Pau has the world's most beautiful view of the earth just as Naples has the most beautiful view of the sea."
  The site has been occupied since at least the Gallo-Roman era. However the first references to Pau as a settlement only occur in the first half of the 12th century.
context_section_description: The Zénith: Very modern with a capacity of 6,800 (or up to 4,500 seats), it hosts national and international artists in operas, concerts, cabarets, shows and circus on ice. It is located near the Palais des Sports, on Boulevard Cami Salié.
  The André Labarrère Intercommunal Library, on Place Marguerite Laborde, is the work of architect Daniel Rubin, and opened its doors in June 2012. It was intended as the bridgehead of a network of ten libraries in the Pau-Pyrenees agglomeration. A sober architecture, block compact glass and steel and occupying less than 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft), the ground space revolves around a huge interior with a 17 metres (56 ft)-high atrium serving 3 floors: 5,400 square metres (58,000 sq ft), 184,000 documents (including 14,000 CDs and 7,000 DVDs) and 400 titles of journals are thus made available to all. A 120-seat auditorium, an exhibition hall of 198 square metres (2,130 sq ft), the news space or Interlude Space has also been built within the structure. Originally laid down on a section of Beaumont Park as part of a project by architect Zaha Hadid (Priktzer 2004 Award winner), financial and technical constraints changed the views of the mayor in early 2007 and finally brought the media library to a part of the site occupied by the Henry-IV School.
  The Palais Beaumont, auditorium, home of the Symphony Orchestra of Pau-Pays de Béarn. The congress centre is part of the grouping of the HCCE (Historic Conference Centres of Europe).
  The Parc des expositions de Pau: Located to the west of the city, straddling Pau and Billère, it welcomes 450,000 visitors and 200 events per year.
  The Méga CGR Cinema located next to the university is equipped with 12 digital and 3D screens. The multiplex offers a large and public programming.
  The CGR Saint-Louis Cinema in the city centre is equipped with 7 digital rooms. Renovated in October 2012, it offers intermediate programming between arthouse and trials and commercial movies, including several movies per week operated both in VF (French version) and OVFST (original version subtitled French).
  The Le Méliès Cinema: Housed in a former church, this arthouse and trial cinema offers a rich and diverse programming with three labels; "young audiences", "research and discovery" and "heritage and directory". It has two rooms (306 and 100 seats). The cinema offers thematic evenings and events in partnership with various cultural actors (Cin'es'pace, a summer at the movies, etc.) and organises a festival every year (the International Festival of Film of Pau).
  Les Abattoirs [The Slaughterhouses]: Is an intercommunal cultural hub (PCI) at Billère: The old slaughterhouse was renovated into cultural centre of modern art, Le Bel Ordinaire, the centre houses a concert hall, l'Ampli, exhibition halls, a theatre stage and recording studios. Public cultural facilities, the PCI puts support for contemporary art and the territorial cultural cooperation at the heart of its missions. One of the specifics of the project is to enable cultural structures, associations, artists and inhabitants to join the project, so that they can be involved in its development and its implementation.
  The Centrifuge: The Centrifuge is the cultural service of the University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour but also a room for concerts, performances and an exhibition space located in the student home on the campus. Throughout the year, eclectic and quality international programming is offered.
  The La Pépinière [Nursery] Socio-cultural centre.
caption: The Palais Beaumont [fr]
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