Cirque de Gavarnie (France)
N 42° 42.069 W 000° 00.469
30T E 745075 N 4731970
This French stamp depicts the most impressive natural amphitheatre in Europe - Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees National Park.
Waymark Code: WM8FCQ
Location: Occitanie, France
Date Posted: 03/25/2010
Views: 14
This French stamp depicts the most impressive natural amphitheatre in Europe - Cirque de Gavarnie in the Pyrenees National Park. The Cirque de Gavarnie is a famous example of a cirque in the central Pyrenees. The cirque is 800 m wide (on the deepest point) and about 3000 m wide at the top.
The Cirque de Gavarnie is placed about 4 km south of the village Gavarnie. From its floor, glacially eroded limestone rock walls rise to about 1500 m. It has three conspicuous terraces in which precipitous faces are succeeded upward by steep slopes of ice and snow. The Grande Cascade waterfall, one from the largest waterfalls in Europe, plunges about 425 m from the eastern side. Above the amphitheatre are the high mountain summits of the Franco-Spanish frontier ridge, rising to nearly 3 350 m (the Large peak of Astazou, the Peak of Marboré, the Peak of the Eastern cascade, the Turn of Gavarnie, the Helmet of Gavarnie and the Peak of Taillon). Also conspicuous is the deep cleft known as the Breche de Roland. Nearby is cave Grotte Casteret, containing a frozen underground stream. This magnificent piece of Nature has been recently recognized as UNESCO World Heritage site. The Cirque de Gavarnie is one of the most visited sites in the Pyrenees.