Photo : ThomasInTheSky / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Lac Sainte-Anne
Located at 2,414 metres' altitude in the commune of Ceillac, in the south of the Queyras Regional Nature Park, Lac Sainte-Anne is, at 8.5 hectares, the largest lake in the massif. Formed by glacial overdeepening held by a thick terminal moraine, it has no visible outlet and overlooks its neighbours, Lac Miroir and Lac des Rouites, at the foot of the Pic Nord de la Font Sancte.
A small chapel built at the end of the seventeenth century stands on its shore. According to legend, two young shepherds who set off on a makeshift raft were stuck in the middle of the lake; their parents implored Saint Anne, and a breeze brought them back safe the next day. Since 1647, a pilgrimage has brought together the Queyras and Ubaye valleys every 26 July.
The site is reached by a hike from Ceillac, via Lac Miroir, in a mineral setting characteristic of the Queyras.
