Dôme de Barrot, Mountain summit in Maritime Alps, France

Dôme de Barrot is a summit reaching 2,136 m in the Maritime Alps, between the middle Var valley and the Mont Mounier chain. Its two crests, the cime de Barrot and the cime des Cluots at 2,106 m, are joined to the Mounier massif by broad, little-depressed ridges. The upper slope carries dolomitic and limestone Triassic rock forming an abrupt on the south-west side, above red Permian pelites cut by the Cians and Var gorges.

The Dôme de Barrot is an anticline dome of roughly circular form, as Raoul Blanchard described it, where deep-lying Permian red pelites were pushed up to about 2,000 m and exposed by erosion. The Cians gorges cut through more than 900 m of these red pelites without reaching their base. The summit carries dolomitic and limestone Triassic beds between 2,000 and 2,136 m, forming a steep face on its south-west side.

The massif takes its name from the 2,136 m Cime de Barrot, one of its two culminating ridges, the other being the Cime des Cluots at 2,106 m. Geographers treat the roughly circular anticline as a textbook dome, and Raoul Blanchard estimated it covers 420 km², about 22 km east to west and 19 km north to south.

Reaching the summit requires proper mountain gear and good fitness, as weather can change rapidly at this elevation. Starting early and checking conditions beforehand are essential for a safe visit.

The summit's top is capped by a few metres of Triassic dolomite and limestone, spared by erosion, forming a small cliff on its south-west side. Almost everything below is red Permian pelite, exposed by the Cians gorge over a thickness of more than 900 metres.