Massif des Maures
| Massif des Maures | ||
|---|---|---|
| Highest peak | Signal de la Sauvette ( 780 m ) | |
| location | Var department , France | |
|
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| Coordinates | 43 ° 17 ' N , 6 ° 23' E | |
The Massif des Maures (German Maurenmassiv , Provencal lei Mauras or lei Mauro ) is a southern French mountain range in the Var department . The massif extends along the Côte d'Azur between Hyères and Fréjus .
Around 25 km² (approx. 2% of the mountain range) are designated as "Réserve biologique intégrale des Maures" as a strict wilderness protection area according to IUCN .
origin of the name
The name Massif des Maures probably means “black mountains” or “dark massif”, which indicates the dark stone and dense forest. Another theory traces the name back to the Moors who were demonstrably present in this part of Provence .
Geography and geology
The Maures massif is divided into three mountain ranges, each running from west-southwest to east-northeast and the height of which decreases from the north to the coast to the south. The highest peaks of the massif are the Signal de la Sauvette at 780 m and the Notre Dame des Anges chapel (767 m), which rise to the west of the northernmost mountain range near Collobrières . Further south, the middle mountain range near the former Charterhouse Chartreuse de la Verne reaches a height of 648 m. The ridge along the rugged coast of the Côte d'Azur reaches its maximum at 528 m near Cavalaire-sur-Mer .
From a geological point of view, the Moors massif also includes the peninsulas of Saint-Tropez and Giens , the Îles d'Hyères , the Cap Sicié to the west of Toulon and the Massif de Tanneron in the northeast.
Although direct foothills of the Sea Alps (also called Maritime Alps ), the low mountain range does not belong to the system of the Alps , but forms a dragged-out remnant of the Apulian plate . The Maures are no longer recorded in the mountain groups of the Alps that are common today. Geologically they are more related to Corsica .
Known places
There are many well-known tourist areas along the coast such as La Londe-les-Maures , Le Lavandou , Cavalaire-sur-Mer , Saint-Tropez and Sainte-Maxime . Other well-known places in the Moors are Collobrières , Bormes-les-Mimosas , La Môle , Cogolin , La Garde-Freinet , Grimaud , Gassin and Ramatuelle .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ protectedplanet.net , accessed October 5, 2019