Pic d'Orhy, lieu du sabbat

Larrau

From the top, the view runs from the Bay of Biscay to the Pic d'Anie and, eastwards, to the great summits of the Béarn; the crest separates the Soule from the summer pastures of Navarre. The name is old and its meaning debated: Wikipedia derives it from the Basque orre, the juniper, while the Academy of the Basque Language holds it to be a place name of unknown origin, attested from 1072 in the Navarrese charters. The mountain belongs to the geography of the witches: Pierre de Lancre, judge of the witches of the Labourd in 1609, heard fifty witnesses swear that they had been to the sabbath of La Rhune, and Paul Sébillot notes in 1904 that 'in the Basque Country, it was said until recently that the sabbath was held on the mountain, and principally on Mont Orhy', after the legends published by Jean-François Cerquand between 1875 and 1882. Nothing more precise has been preserved: neither date, nor trial, nor place name, and the tradition amounts to a single sentence. The Souletin proverb 'Orhiko xoria Orhin laket', the bird of Orhi is happy at Orhi, collected by Arnaud d'Oihenart in 1657, says better what the mountain represents for the people of the valley: attachment to one's native land, which the Navarrese version turns into 'the bird of Orhi will stay at Orhi'. The summit remains a high pasture without a chapel, and the treaty of 1856 fixed the border there.

Wikipédia — Pic d'Orhy ↗

Getting there : From Larrau, the D 26 climbs to the Port de Larrau (about 1,580 m), a border pass with a car park. From there, a path follows the crest to the summit: 2.6 km and 430 m of ascent, two to three hours there and back (duration to be checked), on a ridge that is exposed in places, to be walked only once the snow has melted, from spring to autumn, and in settled weather. A longer route leaves from the Col Bagargui, near the Iraty chalets, in six to seven hours (to be checked).

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

Ambient sound