A. The Place where hannibal crossed the pyrenees: Part 2: The current pass through the Pyrenees and the Medieval castle that guarded both the new and old passes:
This massive fortification stands as the symbol of the old enmities that used to divide nations sharply at their borders. Luckily those days are gone: the freeway runs across the border unimpeded (in front of monument at lower right in next photo):
The fort built to guard these passed dwarfs the Roman version (see previous page), and has been upgraded and added to in relatively recent times:
At some distance lay another fortification where common soldiers had their dormitories and beside and under which were stables where war horses were fed and groomed and rested (the view beyond shows the reason for the fort's location, you can see things coming up the hill from a long way off):
The views from this hilltop were quite good in all directions: the view to the northeast (France) and southeast (Spain) have already been shown (the expressway views).
This is the view to the east:
This is the view to the east-northeast:
To the northwest:
To the southwest with a view to the Roman fortifications below (on first page):
That is about it for the views from the top, except for the surprising existence of cork trees in this landscape (I had thought they were only a western to west-central Spain and Portuguese variety of tree):
That is all for the pass(es) over the Pyrenees. Hannibal crossed the lower pass, later, with better road construction techniques including cuts and fills and drainages, the wider pass to the east was used. So now please go back to one of the sequence of pages that got you here
GO BACK TO OTHER PLACES IMPORTANT TO THE STORY PAGE
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