Pic du Canigou

Casteil (sommet limitrophe de Taurinya, Valmanya et Vernet-les-Bains)

Isolated at the eastern end of the Pyrenees, alone overlooking the entire Roussillon plain all the way to the Mediterranean, the Pic du Canigou (2,784.7 m) is no ordinary mountain for the Catalans: it is their sacred mountain, the very symbol of their identity, celebrated by the poet Jacint Verdaguer and visited with fervor by Rudyard Kipling, who called himself one of its 'faithful subjects.' A 13th-century Franciscan chronicle relates that in 1280 King Peter III of Aragon, having climbed to the summit, saw a monstrous dragon rise from a nearby lake — a legend born near the Estanyols tarn, a few hundred meters from the highest point. Every 23 June evening, on the eve of Saint John's Day, the mountain becomes a hearth in the literal sense: hundreds of walkers climb its slopes to light, at sunset, the Saint John's bonfire, kept burning all night, before torch-bearers descend to every corner of Catalonia to pass on the flame, perpetuating a gathering created in 1955 by the mountaineer Francois Pujade of Arles-sur-Tech. An iron cross at the summit, a breathtaking panorama over the sea and the Pyrenees: the Canigou remains a place climbed as much for the view as for the soul.

Getting there : Hiking trails (6 to 8 hours round trip) from the Mariailles or Cortalets refuges; free access

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound