Mercantour National Park

Mercantour National Park
Parc national du Mercantour
IUCN category II (national park)
Coordinates	44°08′34″N 7°07′39″E / 44.14278°N 7.12750°E / 44.14278; 7.12750Coordinates: 44°08′34″N 7°07′39″E / 44.14278°N 7.12750°E / 44.14278; 7.12750
Area	685 km2 (264 sq mi)
Established	1979
Visitors	800,000 (in each year)
Governing body	Parcs Nationaux de France
www.mercantour.eu

Mercantour National Park (French: Parc national du Mercantour) is one of the ten national parks of France. Since it was created in 1979, the Mercantour Park has proven popular, with 800,000 visitors every year enjoying the 600 km of marked footpaths and visiting its villages.

The protected area covers some 685 km², consisting of a central uninhabited zone comprising seven valleys - Roya, Bévéra, Vésubie, Tinée, Haut Var/Cians (in the Alpes-Maritimes) plus Verdon and Ubaye (in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) - and a peripheral zone comprising 28 villages. Many of them are perched villages, such as Belvédère at the entrance to the spectacular Gordolasque valley, concealing great architectural riches (numerous churches decorated with murals and altar pieces by primitive Niçois painters). More than 150 rural sites are located within the Park. Around Mont Bégo there are petroglyphs pecked out on schist and granite faces. They have been dated from the late Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

In the heart of this setting of vertiginous summits (including Cime du Gélas, the third highest mountain in the Maritime Alps at 3,143 m), lies a gem listed as a Historical Monument, the famous Vallée des Merveilles, the aptly named "valley of marvels". At the foot of Mont Bégo, climbers can admire some 37,000 petroglyphs dating back to the Bronze Age, representing weapons, cattle and human figures that are sometimes very mysterious. A less challenging destination is the Musée des Merveilles at Tende.