Arazas river, Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, Pyrenees, Spain
© David Santiago Garcia/Cavan Image
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, Spain
Beautiful in any season, the Pyrenees have served as a natural border between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe since the earliest civilizations settled there. Located in the centre of the range, the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park was created in 1918 and expanded in 1982. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
With sheer cliffs and deep, verdant valleys, the park’s landscape is a remarkable display of geological landforms and diverse ecologies shaped by the drastic elevation changes of the Pyrenees. The region is home to several species that can only be found here, including the Pyrenean chamois and the Pyrenean desman, or water mole. The mammal considered the rarest and most important in the region, the bucardo or Pyrenean ibex, went extinct in January 2000 despite preservation efforts.
Related Images
Aerial view of Bora Bora in French Polynesia
Cottonwoods through an arch in Coyote Gulch, Glen Canyon Recreation Area, Utah, USA
Wind River, Brooks Range, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA
Last light on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
Herd of walruses in northern Spitsbergen, Svalbard archipelago, Norway
Beach at sunrise, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida, USA
Giant sequoias, Sequoia National Park, California, USA
Waterfall in Skaftafell, Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland
Today on Bing
