Col d'Ares
Col d'Ares | |||
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Pass with restaurant |
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Compass direction | France | Spain | |
Pass height | 1513 m | ||
Department | Pyrénées-Orientales , France | ||
Valley locations | Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste , France | Molló , Spain | |
expansion | D115 | C 38 | |
Mountains | Pyrenees | ||
profile | |||
Ø pitch | 5.8% (770 m / 13.2 km) | 3.3% (600 m / 18 km) | |
Max. Incline | 12% | 6% | |
Map (Pyrénées-Orientales) | |||
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Coordinates | 42 ° 22 '2 " N , 2 ° 27' 24" E |
The Col d'Ares , in Catalan Coll d'Ares , which has been paved since 1964 but is rarely used , is one of the smaller road passes in the French Pyrenees at 1,513 meters above sea level .
geography
The Col d'Ares is located in the Pyrénées-Orientales department and connects the towns of Prats-de-Mollo in France with Molló in Spain; at the same time it forms the watershed between the two coastal rivers Tech and Ter . The surrounding pastures have been used for livestock farming in summer since ancient times.
history
In 1691, during the Nine Years' War , Spanish troops crossed the Col d'Ares and besieged the walled town of Prats-de-Mollo - but ultimately unsuccessfully. In the revolutionary years 1793/94, the strategically important mountain town was occupied by Spanish units. In January 1939 around 450,000 Republican-minded Catalans fled from the victorious Franco army over the Col d'Ares to France ( La Retirada ); then the pass was closed on February 13th.