ラッセの峠・トップ18

イバニェタ礼拝堂は、サンティアゴ巡礼路を歩く人にとって、感動的で待ち望まれた節目です。ピレネー山脈のフランス側からの険しく急な登りを経て、スペインとの国境を越え、ついに下り坂が始まると、この小さな礼拝堂と隣にある大きな石の十字架は壮観な光景となります。最初のスペインのチェックポイント：山脈のスペイン側で最初に目に見える中間地点として機能し、登りの最も困難な部分は公式に終わったことを示します。 この地点に到達すれば、ほぼ終わりです！さらに少し下ったところに、その日の最終目的地である、力強く壮大なロンセスバーリェス修道院複合施設があります。

There is a restaurant upstairs (actually several, but only one was open in July)

Walk from the Ispeguy pass, narrow path, best worn in hiking shoes, some scree slopes, magnificent view!

One of the most inhospitable and spectacular mountain passes in the eastern Pyrenees, with several slopes, all of them very difficult. The landscape is wild and wonderful. You can breathe absolute tranquility and you can dedicate yourself exclusively to enjoying the views, the horses, the sheep, the cows and the suffering on the bike. The summit is on the border with Spain, although there is no road that crosses the border, so the pass runs entirely in France. I have climbed it on 2 of its slopes. The first time I climbed it on the slope that crosses the Col d'Orgambide, on the D428 road, which starts from Estérençuby. The first 3 km are very easy, until you cross the detour to go up to Artaburu, where the road begins to have slopes of more than 10%. From there, to the summit, the climb is very hard, around 9%, on a very rough and bumpy road, with a lot of humidity and crossing a wonderful beech forest. Once you reach the top of the Col d'Orgambide, you turn right and continue climbing for another half kilometre with a gradient of 11%. There comes a small descent, to face the last 3 kms, the first 2 very hard with several 13% gradients. The last kilometre is very easy and has panoramic views that are simply wonderful. The second time I climbed it on the side that starts from Arneguy and Ondarolle. This side is harder than the previous one, with a central section that is hellish, being 6 kms at an average of 10%, and a very hard km at 12% and 18% gradients!!! The final part is more gentle. You cross the Croix de Thibault in the penultimate kilometre of the climb. The final kilometre is very gentle and with beautiful and exciting panoramic views.

After a long climb, you finally make it to the Ibeneta Pass and can enjoy the view as a reward. Up here, there is a small chapel and a memorial stone to the knight Roland, who is said to have fallen here.

A great climb up to the pass. Once you reach the top you get a great view. There is a small church at the top and also a monument. There has always been a hospital up here. However, only the foundations of it remain

Roland, who is commemorated here, died in 778 as part of the rear guard of Charlemagne's Frankish army. He himself was Margrave of Brittany and was the victim of a Basque revenge campaign against the Frankish conquerors who were retreating from a failed Saracen campaign. Those were complicated times, but things were not to become any less complicated in the Basque Country in the centuries that followed. An epic/song was later sung about Roland, which is part of world literature. The monument itself is simple and rough, exposed up here in the wind of the weather, and can therefore have an immediate effect, without pomp and splendor. Great! https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlacht_von_Roncesvalles

Before starting the climb: check the weather forecast and make sure you have the appropriate clothing. The climb can be done in the clouds (fog) towards the end. A fluorescent vest is not an exaggerated luxury. The road is sometimes narrow, the cars drive fast. For the descent, it is best to take a windbreaker and an undershirt with long sleeves. Light gloves prevent your hands from getting numb, which makes braking more difficult. At the top near the inn at the border crossing, horses walk freely on the road. During the descent along the Basque side you can meet a real pig (180+ kg) in the middle of the road.