Eight sites to see absolutely around Cauterets

At the whim of your walks, come and appreciate the sumptuous natural sites, and the villages of character of the Gavarnie valleys. Often nestled on incredible points of view, they will make you even better enjoy the beauty of nature, while discovering a story rich of several centuries. Do not leave without visiting them!

1 - The heritage of Saint -Savin, patron saint of the Lavedan valley

Starting point for many walks and hikes, the village of Saint-Savin 13 km from Cauterets is a high place of the Pyrenean heritage. Surrounded by the Lavedan mountains and forests, it offers an incomparable view of the Gave de Pau valley. The village square is worth the detour alone, with its famous fountain and its half -timbered houses .

The 12th century church, in a Latin cross, in Romanesque style, testifies to its monastic past, in particular by the tomb of Saint Savin (master altar), the magnificent organ, one of the oldest in France, or the statues of the Virgin preserved in her museum-tresor.

Aside from the village on a rocky promontory, there is the Notre-Dame de Piétat chapel , erected at the place where the Savin hermit , Catalan monk who had a hole dug in the rock lived in the 5th century. Saint Savin evangelized the Lavedan valley, where he was the author of several miracles and became the patron saint of the valley.

Built and then transformed between the 11th and the 17th century, the chapel became until the French Revolution, the seat of the brotherhood of Notre Dame de Piétat. Fallen into ruins, it was finally restored in the 19th century. With Lamarque-Pontacq and Barbazan-Debat, it is one of the three Notre-Dame-de-Piétat des Hautes-Pyrénées chapels.

And if you want to finish your visit to Saint Savin on a gastronomic touch, book the Table of the Hotel-Restaurant du Viscos, a more than a hundred-year-old house where you welcome the Saint-Martin family, for a refined kitchen of local products.

2 - Notre Dame de Pouey -Laün, Golden Chapel Guardian of Val d'Azun

This large chapel at the bell tower overlooks the Arrens-Marsous village, at the foot of the Soulor pass. The Mont de la Source on which it is built, at 930m above sea level, was the seat of an oppidum, an old Roman village fortified.

Contrasting with the rusticity of Saint Savin, the Notre-Dame de Pouey-Laün chapel is all in ornaments: sculpted reliefs, fine gold, star blue, baroque altarpiece ... baroque…

Assistant to the chapel, a hospitalet welcomed pilgrims en route to the Spanish sanctuary Notre-Dame del Pilar, in Zaragoza, or towards Saint-Jacques de Compostela. Today there remains only the door lintel at the node of Solomon carrying the year 1590, which is found in the surrounding wall of the church of Arrens.

Going up on the Pouey-Laün trail, you will pass in front of the small chapel of Saint-Roch , named after the protective patron and healer of contagious diseases. She wears a lintel dated 1753.

The village of Arrens-Marsous , formerly Center for Linen and Hemp Culture, has remained very authentic, with its old houses, washhouses and fountains, and old stone bridges. Do not fail to see the fortified church of Saint-Pierre d'Arrens, with its crenellated enclosure and its quadrangular bell tower (inscribed in historic monuments).

Also visit the Maison de la Vallée and the National Park , which hosts a permanent exhibition on the fauna and flora of the National Park, as well as on the economic activities of these mountain territories, and works by artists and art artisans the region.

Small wink: in front of the Maison du Val d'Azun sits a large bear in Arudy marble, which will remind you of our mascot of the Chalet La Source, the little bear Jean ... and for good reason, it was sculpted by The same artist, Jean-Jacques Abdallah , just like the Saint Martin de Gaillagos, the Aries and Taurus of Arras-en-Lavedan, or the Eagle de Cauterets.

3 - Gavarnie: meeting the Knights of Malta and the Pyreneists

The Gavarnie circus , we no longer present it: unique site, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site to the double title of natural and cultural landscapes, a glacial circus peaking at 3000 meters above sea level

In its heart one of the highest waterfalls in Europe , and the famous "Roland breach" towards Spain. The legend says that it was created by the knight Roland by wanting to break her sword there ...

Less spectacular but steeped in history, the Notre-Dame de Bon Port church in the village of Gavarnie is to be seen absolutely.

Placed on one of the routes leading to St-Jacques de Compostela, it was in the 12th century a hospice of Templars or Knights of Saint-Jean de Jerusalem , intended to assist pilgrims and travelers passing the port of Boucharo. Enlarged in the 14th century, it then took the name of Notre-Dame du Bon Port. It houses 15th century furniture, remarkable statues and vestiges of the medieval era. As a reminder of the origins, in a window at the bottom of the church, near the confessional, the skulls of 12 Knights of Malta or "Templars" are exposed ...

Famous Pyreneists rest or are honored by commemorative plates, in the cemetery adjoining the church. Writers, guides, illustrious ascentists ...
Pyreneism was invented by the writer Henri Beraldi, in 1898: "The ideal of the Pyreneist is to know how to both ascend, write, and feel. If he writes without going up, he can't do anything. If he goes up without writing, he leaves nothing. If, in the amount, it relates dry, it leaves nothing but a document, which can be it is true of high interest. If - Rare thing - he goes up, writes and feels, if in a word he is the painter of a special nature, the mountain painter, he leaves a real book, admirable. ».

A philosophy of the mountain then magnified by big names such as Russel, Carbonnières, Musset, Maupassant, Baudelaire or Hugo.
Witness the famous poem “God” of Victor Hugo about the Cirque de Gavarnie: “It is a mountain and a wall at the same time; It is the most mysterious building of the most mysterious architects; It is the colossum of nature; It's Gavarnie ”.

4 - Nature and simplicity: the Saint Justin chapel in Sers

Here is another magnificent hiking site , with a sumptuous view (30 km from Cauterets): the promontory which dominates Sers and Barèges, where the natural Saint Justin area is located, 1300m above sea level, on the GR10 high hike path . At the top of a path that alternates Shadow and Sun, an exceptional panoramic view - orientation tables give all the explanations - to Barèges and Col du Tourmalet, and towards Sers and the Luz valley, towards the Pic du Midi de Bigorre .

It was on this site that the Hermitage Saint Justin was located, the first evangelizer of the Bigorre valley in the 4th century. A priory with his chapel had been built there ... There is only the holy greenery left at the Church of Barèges.

The oratory was built in 1990 in tribute to Justin by mountaineers from the valley. A statue of Saint Justin is installed there, as well as a cross and an altar to celebrate Mass outside.

After this walk, make a little stop at the Saint Justin farm at the top, from where you can admire this panorama by savoring a delicious pancake!

5-Medieval atmosphere: Château Sainte-Marie in Esterre
and the Church of the Templars of Luz-Saint-Sauveur

Perched at 630 meters above sea level 25 km from Cauterets, dominating the villages of Luz Saint-Sauveur, Esquièze-Sère and Esterre, Château Sainte-Marie is a real vestige of the Middle Ages.

Former priory of Barège dedicated to Sainte-Marie, this castle was built in the 11th century by the count of Montblanc, lord of Bigorre, to establish his authority with the Barégeois ... and take refuge in the case of aggression by the brigands. There are only two huge defense towers, a round tower and a square dungeon connected by a curtain. Its history which crosses the Hundred Years War, is rich in seats and battles during which it was burned and partially destroyed.

Since this place, we have a very beautiful panoramic view of the valleys of the Gave de Pau and Bastan. Its access is free and is done on foot from the villages of Esquièze-Sère or Esterre.
Since 2019, an event that has been very successful every year in early August in early August: the medieval Esterre . On the program, knights' tournaments and sword fights, dancers, fire spitters, musicians and troubadours, tavern and banquet, market and medieval workshops…. A whole atmosphere!

The church of Luz Saint Sauveur is one of the oldest in the region, built in the 11th century by a rich family, the Saint André. The fortifications were added 300 years later by the Hospitallers of Saint-Jean de Jerusalem, to whom the descendants Saint André gave the church to found a Hostellerie-Hospice.

As in Notre-Dame du Bon Port in Gavarnie, and to Notre-Dame d'Héas, this brotherhood welcomed the pilgrims on the way to Saint Jacques de Compostela , an activity which lasted until the Revolution of 1789. 'Elsewhere wrongly that we tend today to call it "Templar Church", a name that has been anchored for years.

These hospitals who later became knights of Malta , surrounded the church with thick walls adorned with slots and jaw, which are reminiscent of the church of Saint-Pierre d'Arrens. The nave and the bedside were raised to allow the installation of a walkway. A large ditch with Pont Levis even surrounded the walls. The goal was to protect yourself from Aragonese bandits, the "miquelets".
To see inside the ramparts, the Notre-Dame-de-la-Pitié chapel which was built around 1650 to ask God to end an epidemic of black plague which ravaged the Toy country.

It is one of the best preserved medieval buildings in the region, a singularity that has attracted a number of illustrious visitors - from the heiress of Louis XVI to Victor Hugo, passing by Napoleon III and Princess Eugenie - as evidenced The adjoining museum.

From Luz-Saint-Sauveur, a magnificent walk between sites steeped in history consists in reaching the Sainte-Marie castle visible from the village , following the GR10 on an easy loop (2:30).
Longer (4:30 am) for lovers of old stones, the "churches walk", will make you go through the churches of Eskièze, Saint-Julien de Sazos, Saint Jean Baptiste d'Esquièze-Sère, Saint Nicolas in Esquièze-Sère , Saint Michael de Vizos and finally Holys Pierre and Paul de Saligos, all built between the 11th and 13th century.

6-In the footsteps of Napoleon, in Luz-Saint-Sauveur

Napoleon III and his wife Princess Eugénie spent a month in Luz-Saint-Sauveur in the summer of 1859, in order to take the waters-the princess being weakened since the birth of Louis Napoleon three years earlier.

It was also a demonstration of power in this territory far from Paris, where the emperor launched important projects and even held a council of ministers, at the Maison Gradet-Poque, today the town hall.

Napoleon first ordered the layout of the thermal baths , including the column and galleries layout serving the cabins continues today.

 Also short was, this stay made known to the Luz region an incredible architectural and economic boom, thanks to the prestige, the financial means deployed and the influx of travelers that followed.

The story tells that the spa treatment was beneficial to the Empress and that it was in thanks that Napoleon III decided a vast work program. The list is long: the chapel called Imperial Chapel - In Saint Sauveur, the Chapel of Solferino on the ruins of an old hermitage - baptized by the name of victory over the Prussians a few months rather, which pushed Henry Dunant to found the Cross Red- But also many medical establishments, the Lourdes-Pierrefitte-Nestalas railway, and finally the most spectacular: the Napoleon bridge, inaugurated in 1861.

The emperor himself would have designated the location of the bridge which bears his name. This bridge, which enabled the thermal station to open up and establishes a carriage bond with Gavarnie, was a gigantic site: a 68-meter apron, a 4 meter width lane 63 meters above the Gave!
In recognition to their benefactor, the inhabitants of Luz erected a stone column of Lourdes surmounted by an eagle of marble , at the end of the Napoleon bridge.

The Napoleon bridge is today the meeting place for thrill seekers : Elastic jump, via-farrata and disproportionate zipline ... A real attraction center for those who have a well-hung heart!

To relive this incredible period according to the historic sites around Luz, follow the marked circuit "Napoleon and Eugenie". The promenade begins at the town hall, at the Gradet-Poque house which housed the Council of Ministers of Napoleon, passes through the thermal district of Saint-Sauveur, then the Napoleon bridge and finally the Solférino chapel on the promontory which dominates the town of Luz .

7 - Argeles -Gazost: Medievaux castles with beautiful thermal villas

In Lavedan, at the confluence of the Gaves of Pau and Azun, Argelès is an old village as evidenced by its medieval vestiges and its narrow alleys. Like Cauterets and Barèges, Argelès also benefited from the boom in thermalism at the end of the 19th century, thanks to the establishment of an aqueduct to transport waters from Gazost - hence the merger in a single name.

Famous personalities came to frequent this place , Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, the Empress of Austria. François Mauriac even made the scene of his novel "Le River de Feu".

In addition to the magnificent thermal establishments, the city is then enriched by many beautiful master houses , which today complement the old castles, and make Argelès-Gazost an architectural treasure in where it is good to wander from the "large terrace" Magnificent panorama.

Near Arugeles, be sure to visit and read the story of a few picturesque sites, such as the Château d'Oourout, La Tour de Vieuzac, La Tour de Vidalos , without forgetting the Dungeons of Aigles (Beaucens) and its incomparable raptor show.

8 - A little closer to the stars…. The Pic du Midi

We cannot stay in the region without visiting this legendary site, classified as a large site of Occitanie!

Located 45 km east of Cauterets, masked by the Oriental slope of the valley, the Pic-du-Midi-de-Bigorre culminates at 2877m, only exceeded by the vignemale (3298m) and the aneto on the Spanish side ( 3404 m), located about twenty km further south.

Why this name? According to an Alpine tradition, the summits located south of their main observation point are baptized by the name of "Midi". And as there is another Pic du Midi (D'Ossau), it was necessary to distinguish one and the other ...

Mythical place since Antiquity - a sort of gigantic natural pantheon, forming with Gavarnie the tomb of Pyrene - this peak has been best known since the 18th century for as a place of astronomical and atmospheric studies . The construction of the observatory began in 1870 under the leadership of General Charles du Bois de Nansouty and the engineer Célestin-Xavier Vaussenat. A first telescope was installed in 1907: relatively small (50 cm in diameter), it was nevertheless one of the largest of the time and he notably allowed in 1909 to deny the existence of channels on Mars. Consequently, this observatory took an international renown and did not cease to be enlarged and perfected.

The site, whose access was facilitated by the installation of a cable car in 1952, remained long reserved for scientists. It was not until the year 2000 that a new cable car was opened to the public. Since then, the tourist offer has developed, with many historical activities and explanations, a planetarium, a museum .

The most incredible is the famous "Ponton du Ciel", a footbridge suspended above the vacuum offering a 360 ° vision of the Pyrenean peaks and their firmament, in immersion in the Milky Way.

Since 2013, the site has even been labeled (since 2013) First International Reserve in Ciel Etoile!

You can go there by the famous Pic-du-Midi carrier trail which starts at the Tourmalet just after the hamlet of Artigues, in the town of Campan. Count 4:30 am to reach the summit - which is much less than at the beginning of the history of the site, where it took at least 7 hours!
But the simplest remains of course, the cable car since the Mongie (altitude 1785 m), from which we reach the observatory in 15 minutes. Between heaven and earth, the ascent is really spectacular, in two stages with a stop and a change of cabin, at 2341 m at the top of the taoulet.
Please note, the cable car is not recommended for people sensitive to the risks of altitude, especially children under 3 years old whose eardrums could suffer from the rapid rise on such a drop (more than 1000m). Take so sunscreen and sunglasses, up there, the radiation is three times higher than that of sea level!

Going up, you can appreciate many remarkable points such as the Col du Tourmalet, the Gavarnie circus, Lake Once. Up there, you await 600m² of terrace, and a breathtaking panorama of the foothills of the Massif Central. A magical experience!

Do not hesitate to contact the La Source chalet to organize your stay, and take the time to enjoy all these wonders!