Foix is at the crossing of the Ariège and Arget rivers in the Ariège department. The name of the city supposedly came from this particularity as foueich means the fork and would have subsequently given the name Foix. The town developed at the foot of its castle and is overlooked by the Prat d'Albis at 3,936 ft (1,200 m) above sea level, the terraces of Pech at 2,788 ft (850 m), and the Saint-Sauveur at 2,296 ft (700 m). The town of Foix symbolizes the gateway to the Ariège Pyrenees, between foothills and mountains.