Lapiaz des Arres d'Anie

The Arres d'Anie limestone pavement covers the slopes of the Pic d'Anie, which rises to 2,504 metres above the Aspe valley, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, near the Lescun cirque. The name comes from the Basque Auñamendi, the 'mountain of kids' or of goats.

This lapiaz is a vast jagged limestone plateau cut by vertical fissures and sinkholes, about 200 metres thick. Rainwater seeps in and dissolves the rock until it meets the underlying schists, which stop it going deeper. Hiking guides describe it as one of the most extensive in Europe.

Routes to the summit and the pavement start from Lescun, La Pierre-Saint-Martin or, on the Spanish side, Belagua. The route crosses a mineral landscape of grey stone; terrain and weather require good preparation, especially as fog is frequent and waymarking scarce.

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