Canigó
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Template:Infobox mountain
The Canigó (Template:Langx Template:IPA, Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA; Template:Langx) is a mountain located in the Pyrenees of southern France.
The Canigó is located less than Template:Convert from the sea and has an elevation of Template:Convert.<ref name="elevation"/> Due to its sharp flanks and its dramatic location near the coast, until the 18th century the Canigó was believed to be the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.<ref>Histoire du Roussillon - Le relief des Pyrénées-Orientales</ref>
Being between south and Northern Catalonia, the mountain has a historical symbolical significance for Catalan people.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In good weather, it is visible from Marseille on 8 February and 31 October, due to atmospheric optical effects.Template:Cn
Geography
The Canigó is located in Pyrénées-Orientales, south of Prades and north of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste. Its summit lies on the border between two communes: Vernet-les-Bains and Taurinya (although the territories of two other communes - Casteil and Valmanya - approach quite closely to the summit).<ref>Pierre Bousigue, Canigou - de l'ombre à la lumière, 2019, p118</ref> Its location makes it visible from the plains of Roussillon and from Conflent in France, and as well from Empordà in Spain.<ref>Guide du Roussillon et de l'Andorre : touristique, historique, social, économique, Perpignan, Sud Roussillon, 1968, 286 p.</ref>
Twice a year, in early February and at the end of October, with good weather, the Canigó can be seen at sunset from as far as Marseille, Template:Cvt away, by refraction of light.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This phenomenon was observed in 1808 by baron Franz Xaver von Zach from the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica in Marseille.<ref>Template:66 PHPC</ref> All year long, it can also be seen, with good weather, from Agde, Port-Camargue and the Montagne Noire.
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Canigó, 2004 -
Canigó from Bompas, Perpignan, 1 April 2024 -
Canigó from Bompas, Perpignan 31 March 2024 -
View from the Pic dels Set Homes
Trekking and sightseeing
Jeep tracks on the north side of the massif lead to the Chalet des Cortalets (at 2150 m) which is a popular outpost with walkers.
There are two ancient monasteries at the foot of the mountain, Martin-du-Canigou and Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa.
Canigó Flame
The mountain has symbolical significance for Catalan people. On its summit stands a cross that is often decorated with the Catalan flag.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Every year on 23 June, the night before St. John's day (nit de Sant Joan), there is a ceremony called Flama del Canigó. French Catalans carry a flaming torch from Perpignan to the cross and the Catalonian flag on top of the mountain, and people light bonfires throughout the area.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Literature
The Canigó inspired the epic poem "Canigó"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> by Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló. In these verses Verdaguer compares the snowy mountain to a Magnolia flower (pages 27–28):
While he was staying in Vernet-les-Bains in 1911, Kipling wrote about Canigou. In a letter to the Club Alpin, he praised it as a "magician among mountains".
Kipling also wrote a light-hearted short story entitled Why Snow Falls at Vernet. It makes fun of the English habit of always talking about the weather.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Canigo.cat Template:Webarchive All information about the Canigou massif: nature, culture and itineraries (in Catalan)
Template:Visitor attractions in Pyrénées-Orientales Template:Authority control