Puy de Sancy

Puy de Sancy (, "Mount of the Cross") is a French mountain, the highest mountain in the Massif Central and the highest of volcanic origin in Metropolitan France. It is part of an old stratovolcano which has been inactive for about 250,000 years.

Puy de Sancy is in the Puy-de-Dôme departement in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. With an elevation of  above sea level, it is the highest point of the department.

Name
The mountain was called during the 19th century as Puy de la Croix ("Mount of the Cross") because there was a big cross on the summit (the top of the mountain). That name is kept in the Occitan language.

Geography
Puy de Sancy is in the Monts Dore, a chain of volcanic mountains in the centre of the Massif Central and at about  to the southwest of Clermont-Ferrand; it is within the borders of the Parc naturel régional des volcans d'Auvergne ("Regional Nature Park of the Auvergne Volcanoes").

Several small rivers (streams) have their sources on the sides of Puy de Sancy. In the valley to the north of the mountain are the sources of two streams called Dore and Dogne; at an altitude of , both streams are joined to form the Dordogne river.

Ski resorts
There are three ski stations (places where people go to practice skiing) on the slopes of Puy de Sancy: Super-Besse and Mont-Dore (together they are called the Grand Sancy) and Chastreix-Sancy.

References

Other websites

 Office de Tourisme du Massif du Sancy website
 summitpost.org - Puy de Sancy
 Puy de Sancy - Altituderando 
 Puy de Sancy - peakery

Category:Mountains of France
Category:Puy-de-Dôme