The Gorge of Galamus

3 miles north of Saint Paul, the awe-inspired site of the Gorges of Galamus is an imposing, protected place. It probably was the first inhabited place in Saint Paul: our ancestors found shelter in the limestone caves that can be seen in the giddy cliffs . The river Agly rushes down a deep break, much to the pleasure of the adepts of canyoning and rafting.

Typical mediterranean plants grow on its steep slopes, such as evergreen oaks, jumper trees while Bonneli eagles soar over the winding narrow road that clings to the cliff. To the South, the impressive Gorges de la Fou, cut through the mountain - the exact replica of galamus - opens to the South and the gallo-Roman bridge. Pyrénées-Orientales Since the seventh century, the natural grottes of Galamus, "the holy mount", have become a refuge for the hermits. They built their humble cells, lived in prayer and abstinence, then died . They placed the site under the protection of Saint Anthony the Great, the patriarch of the monks of the desert . The Franciscans fit out the site in the 15th century. It has become a traditional place of pilgrinage on Easter and Whitsun Mondays. Thanks to the exceptional situation of the Hermitage, hung up half-way up the cliff, the place was the setting of several films: "Chine ma douleur " - Jean Vigo Prize 1989 - and " The 9th Door " by Roman Polanski in 1998.