Crête des Sept Hommes, Mountain summit in Pyrénées-Orientales, France.
Crête des Sept Hommes is a ridge in the Canigou massif of the eastern Pyrenees, reaching 2,661 m at its summit, the Pic dels Set Homes. It lies on the boundary between Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste in Vallespir and Castell de Vernet in Conflent, just north of the Canigou peak and southwest of Puig Rojà. Its rounded crest is bare pale rock and scree, with dark green vegetation filling the gullies and lower slopes.
The name of the ridge and its neighbour, the pic dels Tres Vents, comes from a legend recorded in Catalan and French sources: seven giants, in one version led by Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, gathered on the summit to divide Catalonia. They quarrelled over the land, and God turned them to stone. The pic dels Tres Vents is said to be a corruption of a Catalan name meaning "peak of the thirteen winds", the winds the giants needed to dethrone God.
Legend explains the name: seven giants hid on the ridge to plot world domination, needing thirteen winds to dethrone God; a nearby Pic dels Tres Vents echoes the Catalan word for thirteen, and God turned them to stone. Another version names Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, and six companions who freed Catalonia from the Moors, then quarrelled over dividing it and were petrified.
The ascent requires good physical fitness and proper mountain gear for the alpine terrain. Weather conditions change quickly at this elevation, so preparation and awareness throughout the hike are important.
The name comes from a legend of seven giants petrified by God. One version names them Roland, Charlemagne's nephew, and six companions who freed Catalonia from the Moors, then quarrelled over how to divide it. Nearby stands the Pic dels Tres Vents, said to be a corruption of "thirteen winds", the winds the giants needed to dethrone God.
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