Gavarnie

Haute Pyrenees, Occitanie, France

«A mountain and a wall at the same time» (V.Hugo 1845), the Colosseum of Nature, Cirque de Gavarnie, is about 4km from the village. The cirque is 800m wide (on the deepest point) and about 3,000m wide at the top. The rock walls that surround it are up to 1,500m above the floor. During the warmer seasons, a number of large meltwater falls spill not the cirque. The Grande Cascade waterfall plunges about 425m from the eastern side.

Gavarnie in Hautes Pyrenees, Occitanie, lying on the French side of the Francospanish frontier at an elevation of 1,357m was a resting place in medieval times for pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostella in northwestern Spain. At the head of the valley, Hotel du Cirque, one hour hike up from the village, opened in 1848 and rewards the visitor with its legendary views.