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The Massif de l'Esterel (
Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
Provençal: ''Esterèu''; English: Esterel Massif) is a
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
coastal mountain range in the
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of Var and
Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...
on the
French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
. Neighbouring cities are Mandelieu-la-Napoule and
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
on the east, as well as Saint-Raphaël and
Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...
on the west. The soil and rocks of the range are of
volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
origin, composed mainly of
rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...
, which gives the hills a red color. The
terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...
is rugged, with deep
ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...
s and oak forests. The highest point of the massif is Mont Vinaigre (618 metres or 2,028 feet). The massif covers an area of 320 km2 (123.5 sqmi), of which 130 km2 (50.1 sqmi) are protected by the Forêt domaniale de l'Esterel ( national forest). The nature reserve offers hiking and mountain biking trails including the GR 49 and GR 51. The Esterel mountains also host the
Pierre & Vacances Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs () specializes in tourism services, providing holiday and entertainment ''villages'', leisure activity residences and hotels under the brands Pierre & Vacances, Maeva, Center Parcs Europe, Center Parcs, Sunpa ...
holiday village Cap Esterel. The Corniche d'Or, a touristic road along the coast and Île d'Or, links Saint-Raphaël and Cannes.


Gallery

File:Esterel-3.JPG, The Esterel Massif File:Massif de l'estérel (5830137152).jpg, Red cliffs of Esterel File:Calanque d'Anthéor - Boulevard Eugène Brieux - View NNE on Pointe d'Anthéor.jpg, Calanque d'Anthéor File:Towards Agay village - panoramio.jpg, Anthéor File:Calanque de Saint-Barthélemy.jpg, Calanque de Saint-Barthélemy File:Red Cliffs of Estérel.jpg, Red cliffs of Esterel


References


External links


Esterel massif: Picture Gallery
Landforms of Var (department) Mountains of Alpes-Maritimes Mountain ranges of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Volcanism of France {{Provence-geo-stub