Mont-Perdu - Mont-Perdu à Ordessa

Reference : FR043

AVAILABLE FOR TRADE
Size : 10,5 x 15 cm

"Le Mont-Perdu à Ordessa"

Location of MONT-PERDU on FRANCE / SPAIN border

Monte Perdido (Mont Perdu in French, both meaning lost mountain) is the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees. The summit of Monte Perdido (3 355 m), located in Spain, lies hidden from France by the seemingly impenetrable peaks of the Cirques of Gavarnie and Estaubé. It is in the north of Huesca province. The mountain forms part of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, in the west of the Pyrenees, in the community of Aragon, Spain.

Access to the mountain is easier from Spain than from France. The route starts near the village of Torla, Aragon, at the Ordesa Valley and ascends the Cirque de Soaso towards the Refuge of Góriz before the stiff climb to the summit. It is a dangerous climb with snow.

Monte Perdido is the centre-piece of the Spanish Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park which was established in 1918 with just 21 square kilometres of land. The park has grown significantly to 156 square kilometres and incorporates the whole of the Añisclo Canyon. There are more than 1500 species of flowers, 171 species of birds, 32 different mammals and 8 types of reptile in the Ordesa. Most magnificent of all is the Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture) with a 3 metre wingspan. The Pyrenees is one of the few places in Europe where these birds can be seen.

UNESCO w.h.s. :

Pyrénées - Mont-Perdu

Date of inscription : 1997

This outstanding mountain landscape, which spans the contemporary national borders of France and Spain, is centred around the peak of Mount Perdu, a calcareous massif that rises to 3,352 m. The site, with a total area of 30,639 ha, includes two of Europe's largest and deepest canyons on the Spanish side and three major cirque walls on the more abrupt northern slopes with France, classic presentations of these geological landforms. The site is also a pastoral landscape reflecting an agricultural way of life that was once widespread in the upland regions of Europe but now survives only in this part of the Pyrénées. Thus it provides exceptional insights into past European society through its landscape of villages, farms, fields, upland pastures and mountain roads.