Mount Pyrenees: description and photo

The mountains of the Pyrenees impress with their diversity. Here towering majestic peaks, inside of which are hidden deep caves, and in the valleys are seen grandiose waterfalls. And their best feature is that the wild nature is almost untouched by civilization.

Description

The Pyrenees are mountains of medium height, which stretch for 450 kilometers from the Bay of Biscay in the west and to the Mediterranean Sea in the east. The heights range between 1600 and 2500 meters. The Pyrenees Mountains are on the border between Spain and France. And in the eastern part of them the tiny state of Andorra hides.

Mountains Pyrenees are young, although they are still older than, for example, the Alps and the Andes. Already 500 million years ago peaks rose on the mainland. During their development, these mountains were highly prone to erosion. Therefore here and there the terrain is somewhat reminiscent of the Grand Canyon in America. And then the mountains completely absorbed the ocean, as evidenced by the presence of soft sedimentary rocks, such as limestones in the west, thanks to the erosion of which subsequently formed karstic cavities - caves. Then a collision of lithospheric plates began, and the Pyrenees mountains revived and landed on land. All these processes and cause such a variety of forms of relief.

Different sections of the Pyrenees

The Pyrenees mountains are territorially divided into three parts: the Atlantic (western), the Aragones (central), the Mediterranean (eastern).

The Atlantic Pyrenees belong to two states: France and Spain. From west to east, their height gradually increases.

The Aragonese peaks belong only to Spain, here is the highest mountain of the Pyrenees, the peaks Aneta (3404), Monte Perdido (3348) and Vinhmal (3298). From the Spanish side, the Aragonese Pyrenees are more accessible, on the French territory they are steeper and precipitous. Here you can go from one country to another via the Somport Pass. To the south of the place where the Pyrenees are located, there is a parallel ridge parallel to the Sierra de Guerra. All modern glaciation is also concentrated in the central part.

Mediterranean Pyrenees are for the most part Spanish, than France. Between them is a dwarf state, which is entirely in the mountains. This is the principality of Andorra.

In the Pyrenees mountains you can look into the French departments: the Upper Pyrenees, Upper Garonne, Aude, Ariège and the Atlantic Pyrenees. To Spain belong: the 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, except for hunting, is agriculture, growing grapes.

The Pyrenees are mountains that played a big role in the history of Europe. Here there were new states, there were battles. Hannibal's campaign alone entered the annals. The Carthaginians crossed the Pyrenees through Serdan (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

Fans of traveling through the mountains often choose not well-groomed along and across the Alps, and hard-to-reach Pyrenees. Despite its seemingly small height, the trails in these mountains are complex and dangerous. The Pyrenees' difficulty is that there are no convenient passes between them and few passes, this huge wall separated the peninsula from the rest of Europe. There are no roads here, however many waterfalls, ravines, forests.

The wildlife here is much better preserved than in the same Alps. Here live: chamois, ibex, boars, bears and even wolves, which are almost no longer characteristic of wild Europe. Pyrenees are somewhat like mountains in Russia, such as, for example, the Caucasus. Of course, here 3404 is the maximum height of the mountains. Pyrenees in this regard can not be compared with Elbrus - the highest point of our country, but in beauty they, perhaps, in no way inferior. These mountains were mastered by many fans of extreme: speleologists, climbers, skiers and just pedestrian tourists.

Aneto Peak

The highest mountain of the Pyrenees, whose name is Aneto, is in the Spanish province of Huesca. The French call it Pic de Net. In all of Spain it is in third place in height. On Aneto is located the largest glacier in this country, the area of which is 79.6 hectares (2005). Climbing to this peak climbers make from the "shelter of Renklus", located at an altitude of 2140 meters. Up the path leads along the longest part of the glacier.

Such an ascent is considered uncomplicated, many tourists climb up the mountain every year, completely without climbing experience. Thus, the highest mountain of the Pyrenees is quite accessible. In general, the climb season lasts from July to September. By the way, the first to conquer this mountain in the summer of 1842 was our compatriot, Russian officer Platon Alexandrovich Chikhachev. With him as part of the group were guides: Pierre Sanio de Luz, Luschonné Bernard Arrazo, Pierre Redondne. There was also the botanist Albert de Frankiville and the conductor Jean Sor. Above, they left a pyramid of stones and a bottle with their names. Winter climbing occurred in 1878.

Circus of Gavarni

The Gavarni Circus of glacial origin is a hollow on one side of which is a rock wall. This is a famous landmark Pyrenees, which admired the writer Victor Hugo. It is also included in the UNESCO list. The diameter of the circus below is 3.5 kilometers, and to the top it extends to 14 kilometers.

The height of this depression is 1400 meters above sea level, next to it is the second peak in height in the Pyrenees - Monte Perdido. From the walls of the circus flow streams of water, forming in some places waterfalls. In winter they freeze and turn into ice walls, on which climbers of extreme sports rise. Especially distinguished among all water streams is the Gavarni waterfall. Its free fall extended by 422 meters.

For a long time, the Gavarni waterfall was considered to be 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 good road crossing, which lasts about an hour. There is also a playground with benches from where you can admire the waterfall and take a photo. At an altitude of 2-2.5, there are ice caves. The 1200-meter-high wall of Gavarni attracts mountaineers.

Pierre-Saint-Martin Cave

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.

For the first time, French and Belgian speleologists came down here in 1953. They overcame a huge steep well, using a winch with a drum and a steel cable. Then there was no developed technology for the passage of such caves. The expedition reached the mark of 737 meters, while losing one participant. This depth was considered at that time the largest in the world.

The first 700 meters of depth were very dangerous, so it was possible to conquer the cave later, mainly thanks to a tunnel cut through the rock. The karst cavity could be examined up to a mark of 1006 meters, a second entrance was also discovered. Thanks to the connection with the small cave Tet Sauvage, the total depth of Pierre Saint Martin reached 1171 meters.

Lourdes

It is a French city, which 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, was the appearance of the Virgin Mary to the 14-year-old girl Bernadette. It happened in the cave of Mesabiel. Our Lady was to the girl more than once, and 18. During this event, the child recovered from asthma, after having bathed in the healing spring, which pointed to her Maria.

Later, Bernadette was considered a saint. Above the cave is built a basilica dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Until now, believers have come here to pray and drink water from a sacred spring.

The city has museums that can be visited: Bernadette Subiru, Greven (religious painting) and the Iberian local lore.

Andorra

Dwarf state, which can occupy a small area in the occupied area. The population is 84 thousand people, most of whom are Spanish and only then Andorran. 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 the trade and banking sector of the state of Andorra.

The Pyrenees mountains bring the main income to the country. Especially developed ski resorts, Pas de la Casa - the oldest of them. We can say that in the mountains there is a Mediterranean climate with a lot of precipitation in the off-season. The ski season is open from December to mid-spring.