The mountains of the Pyrenees amaze with their diversity. Majestic peaks rise here, inside of which deep caves are hidden, and grandiose waterfalls are visible in the valleys. And their best feature is that the wild nature is almost untouched by civilization.
Description
The Pyrenees are mountains of medium height that stretch for 450 kilometers from the Bay of Biscay in the west to the Mediterranean Sea in the east. Altitudes fluctuate between 1600 and 2500 meters. The Pyrenees mountains are on the border between Spain and France. And in their eastern part, the tiny state of Andorra lurked.
The Pyrenees mountains are young, although they are still older than, for example, the Alps and Andes. Already 500 million years ago, peaks towered on the mainland. During their development, these mountains were heavily eroded. Therefore, in some places the area is somewhat reminiscent of the Grand Canyon in America. And then the mountains were completely swallowed up by the ocean, as evidenced by the presence of soft sedimentary rocks, such as limestones in the west, due to the erosion of which subsequently formed karst cavities - caves. Then the collision of lithospheric plates began, and the mountains of the Pyrenees were reborn again.and landed on dry land. All these processes determine such a variety of landforms.
Different parts of the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees mountains are territorially divided into three parts: Atlantic (western), Aragonese (central), Mediterranean (eastern).
The Atlantic Pyrenees belong to two states: France and Spain. From west to east, their height gradually increases.
Aragonese peaks belong only to Spain, here is the highest mountain of the Pyrenees, peaks: Aneto (3404), Monte Perdido (3348) and Vinmal (3298). On the Spanish side, the Aragonese Pyrenees are more accessible; on the French side, they are more steep and precipitous. Here you can go from one country to another through the Somport pass. South of the place where the mountains of the Pyrenees are located, another ridge stretches parallel called the Sierra de Guerra. All modern glaciation is also concentrated in the central part.
The Mediterranean Pyrenees belong more to Spain than to France. Between them is a dwarf state, which is entirely in the mountains. This is the Principality of Andorra.
In the Pyrenees you can look into the French departments: Hautes-Pyrenees, Haute-Garonne, Aude, Ariège and Atlantic Pyrenees. Spain includes: Basque Country, Huesca, Lleida, Navarre, Catalonia, Girona.
History of the Pyrenees
The first mountains of the Pyrenees were inhabited by ancient people, they lived in local karst caves, as evidenced by rock paintings. Gradually, the main occupation of people, in addition to hunting, is agriculture, growing grapes.
Pyrenees - mountains that played a big role in the history of Europe. New states arose here, battles took place. Only one campaign of Hannibal entered the annals. The Carthaginians crossed the Pyrenees through Cerdan (the province of Lleida and Girona), through the Persh Pass and the Teta Valley, then they moved to the Apennine Peninsula, planning to defeat the Roman Empire in Italy.
Tourism
Lovers of traveling in the mountains often choose not the well-traveled up and down the Alps, but the hard-to-reach Pyrenees. Despite their seemingly small height, the trails in these mountains are difficult and dangerous. The inaccessibility of the Pyrenees lies in the fact that there are no convenient transitions between them and few passes, this huge wall separated the peninsula from the rest of Europe. There are no roads here, but there are many waterfalls, gorges, forests.
Wildlife here is much better preserved than in the same Alps. Here live: chamois, ibex, wild boars, bears and even wolves, which are almost no longer characteristic of wild Europe. The Pyrenees are somewhat similar to the mountains in Russia, such as, for example, the Caucasus. Of course, here 3404 is the maximum height of the mountains. In this regard, the Pyrenees cannot be compared with Elbrus, the highest point in our country, but in terms of beauty, they are, perhaps, in no way inferior. These mountains have been mastered by many extreme lovers: speleologists, rock climbers, skiers and just hikers.
Aneto Peak
The highest mountain in the Pyrenees, whose name is Aneto, is located in the Spanish province of Huesca. The French call it Pic de Netou. Throughout Spain, it is located onthird in height. The largest glacier in this country is located on Aneto, with an area of 79.6 hectares (2005). Climbers climb this peak from the “Renklus refuge”, located at an altitude of 2140 meters. The trail leads up the longest part of the glacier.
Such an ascent is considered easy, every year a lot of tourists climb the mountain, with no climbing experience at all. Thus, the highest mountain of the Pyrenees is quite accessible. The main climbing season lasts from July to September. By the way, our compatriot, Russian officer Platon Alexandrovich Chikhachev was the first to conquer this mountain in the summer of 1842. With him in the group were guides: Pierre Sanio de Luz, Luchonne Bernard Arrazo, Pierre Redonnet. There was also the botanist Albert de Francville and the guide Jean Sor. At the top they left a cairn and a bottle with their names on it. The winter ascent took place in 1878.
Gavarnie Circus
The Gavarni Circus of glacial origin is a hollow, on one side of which there is a rock wall. This is a famous landmark of the Pyrenees, which was admired by the writer Victor Hugo. It is also included in the UNESCO list. The diameter of the circus at the bottom is 3.5 kilometers, and towards the top it expands to 14 kilometers.
The height of this basin above sea level is 1400 meters, next to it rises the second highest peak in the Pyrenees - Monte Perdido. Streams of water flow down from the walls of the circus, forming waterfalls in some places. In winter they freeze andturn into ice walls, which climb fans of extreme sports. Especially stands out among all the water streams waterfall Gavarni. Its free fall stretched 422 meters.
For a long time, the Gavarnie waterfall was considered the highest in Europe, until a larger stream of water was found in Norway. To see this unique miracle of nature, a tourist should first get to the village of Gavarni, and from there make a transition along a good road, which lasts about an hour. There is also a platform with benches where you can admire the waterfall and take a photo. At a height of 2-2, 5 there are ice caves. The 1200-meter wall of Gavarnie attracts climbers.
The Cave of Pierre-Saint-Martin
The famous karst cavity of Pierre-Saint-Martin has long been considered the deepest on our planet. This is the second cave in the world where you can go underground for more than a kilometer.
French and Belgian speleologists descended here for the first time in 1953. They overcame a huge sheer well using a winch with a drum and a steel cable. At that time, there were no developed technologies for passing through such caves. The expedition reached the mark of 737 meters, while losing one member. Such a depth was considered at that time the largest in the world.
The first 700 meters of depth were very dangerous, so the cave was completely conquered later, mainly thanks to a tunnel cut through the rock. The karst cavity was explored up to the level of 1006meters, a second entrance was also discovered. Thanks to the connection with the small cave Tete Sauvage, the total depth of Pierre-Saint-Martin has reached 1171 meters.
Lourdes
This is a French city that is also popular with tourists and pilgrims. It is located where the Pyrenees mountains are just beginning, that is, in the foothills. Here, according to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared to the 14-year-old girl Bernadette. It happened in the Mesabiel cave. The Mother of God appeared to the girl not once, but 18 times. During this event, the child was cured of asthma after bathing in a healing spring, which Mary pointed out to her.
Later, Bernadette was canonized. A basilica dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary was built above the cave. Believers still come here to pray and drink water from the sacred spring.
The city has museums to visit: Bernadette Soubirous, Grevin (religious painting) and the Iberian Regional Museum.
Andorra
A dwarf state, which, in terms of area, can correspond to a small city. The number is 84 thousand people, most of which are Spaniards and only then Andorrans. The name of the country from the Basque language is translated as "wasteland". The capital is Andorra la Vella. People here live mainly due to tourism, in addition, the population is involved in trade and the banking sector of the state of Andorra.
The Pyrenees bring the main income to the country. Ski resorts are especially developed, Pas de la Casa is the oldestof them. We can say that the Mediterranean climate reigns in the mountains with a large amount of precipitation in the off-season. The ski season is open from December to mid-spring.
