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Wise Pilgrim APPPomps is a Bearnais village whose name probably derives from a former orchard or apple grove ("Poms" in 14th-century records). The Eglise Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur -- dedicated to Saint James the Greater, patron of pilgrims -- confirms the village's ancient Camino connection, though the current building dates from the early 19th century with a side aisle added in 1871.
A notable historical detail: the Chateau de Pomps was built in 1547 by a cagot from Morlanne. The cagots were a marginalized social group in the western Pyrenees and Gascony, restricted to certain trades including carpentry and construction -- one of the most unusual social phenomena of medieval and early modern France.
