Mont Sacon, la cime des autels gallo-romains

Bramevaque (sommet commun avec Ourde et Sacoué)

Mont Sacon is a flattened limestone dome overlooking the plain of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. Its high point, the pic de Tourroc (1,541 m), is where the territories of three villages meet: Ourde, Bramevaque and Sacoué. It was there, on the summit itself, that Georges Fouet and Andrée Soutou excavated in 1956 and 1957. They found numerous fragments and bases of Gallo-Roman votive altars, cut from the white marble of Saint-Béat, which confirms the presence of a sanctuary at the summit. The study they published in 1963 in the journal Gallia is entitled ‘Une cime pyrénéenne consacrée à Jupiter’. The pieces are now in the musée Saint-Raymond in Toulouse. A viewpoint indicator there tells, under its shelter, the story of the ancient sanctuary. Around the mountain, legends speak of the wells, niches and caves that riddle the limestone, some wells descending about forty metres.

Persée — Fouet et Soutou, « Une cime pyrénéenne consacrée à Jupiter : le Mont-Sacon » (Gallia, 1963) ↗

Getting there: The summit, the pic de Tourroc (1,541 m), is shared by the three communes of Ourde, Bramevaque and Sacoué. The north slope is wooded, the south slope rocky and steep; a viewpoint indicator stands at the summit. The ascent route has not been verified: prepare with a map and a mountain weather forecast. A quarry is worked to the west of the massif. The altars found are kept in the musée Saint-Raymond, in Toulouse, and not on site.

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

Ambient sound