The Col du Chat is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

located in France, in the commune of La Chapelle-du-Mont-du-Chat, in the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. It crosses the Mont du Chat in the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

, overlooking

Lac du Bourget Lac du Bourget (; English Lake Bourget), also locally known as Lac Gris (; ) or Lac d'Aix (), is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely within France, and ...

opposite the town of

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

, and its use has often gone beyond the strictly local, at least until the Chat tunnel was opened:

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as ...

, for example, used it on his way back from Italy. Today, it is used mainly by tourists, as a climb for cyclists, or as a starting point for hikes to Mont du Chat. Because of the region's particular flora and fauna, the pass is located within the perimeter of and close to natural zones of ecological, faunal and floristic interest and

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

reserves. The pass is open all year round, with no winter shutdowns.

Toponymy

The Col du Chat is also known as Col du Mont-du-Chat or Col de Chevelu. The first known instance of the name Mont du Chat appears in 1209; older texts refer to it as ''mons munitus'' or ''mons Munni''. It first appears in the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

forms ''mons Catus'', ''mons Catti'' or ''montem Cati'', then ''montem'' du Chat at the end of the 15th century. In his toponymic study of the

Franco-Provençal Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance language that originated and is spoken in eastern France, western Switzerland, and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several di ...

linguistic zone, G. R. Wipf, after listing a (non-exhaustive) collection of hypotheses on the toponymy of the mountain, the dent and the Col du Chat, tentatively concludes that "the least we can say is that this is a contested toponym". He returns to the subject later in the book, devoting five pages to it.

The word "''chat''" taken literally

A first thesis links the name of the range and pass to the legend of the '' Chapalu'', a "well-known Savoyard legend" according to Wipf. Supported in the work of medievalists and folklorists, this interpretation has little support among linguists. Alphonse Gros assumes that the legend "was only invented to provide an explanation for this curious designation." Wipf, without believing in this explanation either, cannot follow it: insofar as the encounter with the chapalu appears in the

Arthurian cycle The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

, where it is supposed to take place near "Lac de Lausanne", it is not an ''ad hoc'' construction developed around Lac du Bourget. Dauzat and Rostaing, for their part, explain the name of the mountain's "''dent du Chat''" by its shape, which they believe evokes that of a cat's

canine Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * Animals of the family Canidae, more specifically the subfamily Caninae, which includes dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals and coyotes ** ''Canis'', a genus that includes dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Do ...

. Wipf is not convinced either, as his own visual impression of the mountain hardly evokes a feline feature.

A Franco-Provençal word

For his part, Henri Jaccard considers the Franco-Provençal word ''sya'', meaning

saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws. Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...

. He notes the existence of a 1582 source in which the Col du Chat is called "la Sciaz", and links this to the names of places in the Vaud Alps, where the toponymy is explained by the presence of a ridge evoking the teeth of a saw.

Personal names

The deformation of people's proper names has been suggested. Without dwelling on this possibility, Gros points out that similar-sounding names can be found in charters from the south-east of France: ''Dominus Rodulfus Cati'' or even ''Johannes dictus Chat''. André Palluel-Guillard, referring to "other scholars" with no further details, refers to the Catulli, a family name that appears on two inscriptions preserved in the Bourget crypt. The version supported by Gros is a variant of the previous one: the mountain takes its name from the hamlet of Chevelu (formerly ''Chavelu''), a hamlet whose toponymy he in turn explains by the nickname ''Capillutis'' of an inhabitant with a remarkable hair.

A Celtic root

Two hypotheses refer to Gallic deities: referring to "Joanne", Palluel-Guillard evokes a deformation of Thuat, a spelling of the name of the god

Teutates Teutates (spelled variously Toutatis, Totatis, Totates) is a Celtic god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. His name, which is derived from a proto-Celtic word meaning "tribe", suggests he was a tribal deity. The Roman poet Lucan's ...

. A second, undoubtedly more serious, is Wipf's mention of the possibility of a common root between "Chat" and "Chambéry", both of which could derive from the name of the legendary king

Caturix Caturix (Gaulish for "battle king") was the war god of the Helvetii. Names Caturix became known as ''Mars Caturix'' in Gallo-Roman religion by interpretation as Mars. There was a temple dedicated to Mars Caturix in Aventicum, the capital of R ...

. The hypothesis favored by Wipf is derivation from a Celtic root ''car'' or ''cal'', designating mountain in pre-Celtic languages. In his view, this root can be found in many Savoyard names, particularly that of

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

; this latter connection makes sense, as Wipf also believes he can distinguish a common Celtic root ''moniz'', also designating mountain, in the ancient name of Mont du Chat (''mons Munitus'') and the name "Chamonix." Gros, for his part, explains ''mons Munitus'' by a Latin etymology: a ''via munita'' or ''iter munitum'', designating a road or path that required development. Finally, referring to "Mailland", Palluel-Guillard suggests a derivation from the Celtic root ''chai'', designating a fight or ambush.

Geography

Location

The Col du Chat lies at an altitude of 638 metres. It separates the Mont du Chat, at 1,496 meters above sea level, to the south-southwest, with the Cornillon rock immediately above the pass at around 250 meters, from the Mont de la Charvaz, at 1,158 meters above sea level, to the north. The pass overlooks

, one kilometer to the east on the Savoie Propre side, by over 400 meters. To the west, it overlooks the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

valley by more than 300 meters, on the Savoyard Foreland slope. It lies 1.5 kilometers north-west of

Bourdeau Bourdeau () is a commune situated in the Savoie department and in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in south-eastern France. It is part of the urban area of Chambéry.La Chapelle-du-Mont-du-Chat, a village set on the edge of the anticline that overlooks Lac du Bourget by more than 400 meters. It lies 1.5 kilometers above the village of

Saint-Jean-de-Chevelu Saint-Jean-de-Chevelu (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Savoie department References

, 320 meters below the pass to the west-northwest. The Chat tunnel passes under the mountain 500 metres from the pass, to the south-south-west.

Geology

The pass is cut into the

Kimmeridgian In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 154.8 ±0.8 Ma and 149.2 ±0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian ...

limestone of the Mont du Chat. Its bedrock is crossed by a northwest–southeast fault, called the Col du Chat fault, which runs transversely to the anticline. This fault is visible from Saint-Jean-de-Chevelu to Lac du Bourget. It shifts the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

strata some 500 m to the northeast, suggesting the presence of a detachment. However, cartographic data show no displacement of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

strata at the level of the fault, and only a very slight displacement at the level of the Mont du Chat fault, crossed by the Col du Chat fault at the western base of the anticline, 1 km north-west of the Col du Chat. The thinness of the Urgonian limestones beneath the first

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

marine transgression layers at

Bourdeau Bourdeau () is a commune situated in the Savoie department and in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in south-eastern France. It is part of the urban area of Chambéry.glacial periods A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

and its low altitude, compared to that of neighbouring peaks, allowed the Isère glacier to pass through, as did the Col de l'Épine, during the last glaciation and the formation of the Lyon glacial lobe.

Climate

The

mountain climate Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...

of the Col du Chat is slightly milder due to the nearby Lac du Bourget, which moderates the Aix region. Two weather stations are located nearby: station no. 73008003 at Aix-les-Bains, 3km to the east, and station no. 73051001 at Mont du Chat, 4km to the south.

Fauna and flora

The Col du Chat is located in a closed forest zone. The south-facing slope of the pass is populated by beech trees, while the north-facing slope is populated by various deciduous trees associated with conifers in the western part.Forest map consulted on

Géoportail Géoportail is a comprehensive web mapping service of the French government that publishes maps and geophysical aerial photographs from more than 90 sources for France and its territories. The service, first developed by two public agencies (the ...

. The cavities on the western slopes of the pass are home to several different species of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

, including the

barbastelle ''Barbastella'' is a genus of vespertilionid bats. There are seven extant species in this genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon ...

, the grey long-eared and the greater horseshoe, Europe's largest ''Rhinolophus'' species. Bird species recorded in the vicinity of the pass include the

European nightjar The European nightjar (''Caprimulgus europaeus''), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northweste ...

, the

Short-toed Eagle The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus ...

, the

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

, the

Woodlark The woodlark or wood lark (''Lullula arborea'') is the only extant species in the lark genus ''Lullula''. It is found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non-bird migrati ...

, the

European Bee-eater The European bee-eater (''Merops apiaster'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It breeds in southern and central Europe, northern and southern Africa, and western Asia. Except for the resident southern African populat ...

and the

Eurasian scops owl The Eurasian scops owl (''Otus scops''), also known as the European scops owl, common scops owl or just scops owl, is a small owl in the typical owl family Strigidae. Its breeding range extends from southern Europe eastwards to southern Siberia a ...

. Insects are represented by the

great capricorn beetle ''Cerambyx cerdo'', commonly known as the great capricorn beetle or cerambyx longicorn, is a species of beetle in family Cerambycidae. It occurs in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia), Europe (Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Cze ...

southern damselfly ''Coenagrion mercuriale'', the southern damselfly, is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is found in Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, S ...

and the dusky large blue.

History and heritage

Gallo-Roman period

The Col du Chat was probably already a passageway in Gallic times, if not earlier. Several scholars, such as

Albanis Beaumont Sir Albanis Beaumont (ca. 17551812) was an Italian-born English draughtsman, aquatint engraver, and landscape painter. He was born in Piedmont, but naturalised in England. Between 1787 and 1806, he published a great number of views in the so ...

, Jean André Deluc and

John Antony Cramer John Antony Cramer (1793 – 24 August 1848), English classical scholar and geographer, was born at Mitlödi in Switzerland. Life He was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford. He resided in Oxford until 1844, during which time he h ...

around 1800, and later the historian

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

, hypothesized that the pass was used by Hannibal to cross the Alps on his way to Italy; this outdated thesis has now been invalidated. A network of

Roman roads Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

gradually opened up conquered

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. The route of the Praetorian road, which linked

Vienne Vienne may refer to: Places *Vienne (department), a department of France named after the river Vienne *Vienne, Isère, a city in the French department of Isère * Vienne-en-Arthies, a village in the French department of Val-d'Oise * Vienne-en-Bessi ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

via the

Little St Bernard Pass The Little St Bernard Pass (French: ''Col du Petit Saint-Bernard'', Italian: ''Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo'') is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France–Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level. It is located between Sa ...

and crossed the Épine-Chat range above a mysterious ''Labisco'' about halfway between ''Augustum'' (now

Aosta Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...

, at the confluence of the

and

Guiers The Guiers () is a river in the Isère and Savoie departments of eastern France. It is long. It rises in the Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble ...

rivers) and ''Lemencum'' (now Lémenc, a district of

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

), is not precisely known. However, it is known that it did not cross the range at the Col du Chat, but at a point further south. Although the Col du Chat was not on the transalpine route, it was nevertheless crossed by a "vicinale" road, a more local route for commercial traffic, with a width of around four meters, as opposed to the six meters used by the " Praetorian" roads. Roman remains were visible on the pass until the mid-19th century; only a few lapidary inscriptions remained, but these have been preserved. These remains are attested to by several travel reports. Alphonse d'Elbène, abbot of Hautecombe, wrote at the end of the 16th century: More recently, Albanis Beaumont and Prefect refer to a "temple to Mercury." Contemporary archaeologists are not as assertive as these travelers of two hundred years ago, and the nature of this lost structure is a matter of debate: while it is indeed possible that it was a temple to Mercury (or to Mercury and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

), others think it was a stopover on the way to the pass. In this second hypothesis, the inscriptions would have come from a simple oratory inside the stopover. An excavation campaign led by J.-B. Mercier, from 1935 to 1937, uncovered the remains of several small houses near the pass, containing eight skeletons, clearly the victims of assailants, and a few

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

from the 4th century. A second campaign, led by Claude Duc in 1939, uncovered a larger treasure trove of 240 coins from the 2nd and 4th centuries, some 100 metres from the hamlet.

From the Middle Ages to the early 19th century

After the year 1000, the main route over the Épine-Chat chain was the Col Saint-Michel, between Aiguebelette and

Cognin Cognin () is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Geography The river Hyères forms the commune's western border. Population See also *Communes of the Savoie department The followi ...

, which is almost 300 meters higher than the Col du Chat. Nevertheless, other travellers report crossing the Col du Chat, so the traffic is not just local. In 1395, the Seigneur d'Anglure mentioned it in his (Holy Journey to Jerusalem). In 1581,

Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the the essay ...

, the most famous tourist ever to cross the Col du Chat, on his return from Italy: In 1588, Seigneur de Villamont, who had used the Col Saint-Michel on his outward journey, also returned from Italy via the Col du Chat. In 1595, he published his travel memories, which were to be reprinted ten times. Like Montaigne, he recognized that the route was not too difficult, but was not entirely reassuring: At this time, the road from the pass to Chambéry did not follow the contemporary route along the lake, but descended more gradually, passing La Serraz Castle, Bissy Castle and Cognin. Around 1670, King Charles Emmanuel II had a new road built between France and , via

Les Échelles Les Échelles (; ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas r ...

and the Col de Couz. The concurrent passes, Col Saint-Michel and Col du Chat, were no longer properly maintained and were deteriorating. In 1807, Verneilh, Prefect of

Mont-Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the France-Italy border, Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the List of European ultra-prominent peaks ...

, reported that the route via the Col du Chat had become "impassable for driving in several places."

Modern route

It was in 1823 that the construction of a real road through the pass was initiated, to become "route provinciale no 5". The engineers and Negretti were entrusted with the management of this project, and they did more than simply renovate the existing road: they created a new road with gentler slopes, supported by remarkable raw stone retaining walls with no cement joints.J.-R. Clocher, op. cit., p. 137-140. By 1848, the new road was up and running. A

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

service via the Col du Chat left Chambéry at 2 p.m. and reached La Balme at 6.30 p.m.: a four-and-a-half-hour journey covering less than thirty kilometers. By replacing the light stagecoaches with thirteen-seater carriages pulled by four horses, the journey time was reduced to three hours, but this innovation only remained in service for ten months. On the eve of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, road service over the Col du Chat was still provided by a four-seater patache pulled by a single horse. After the annexation of Savoie in 1861, the integration of the range's different routes into the French road network reflected their hierarchy: while the Col de Couz, the main route to Lyon, became an "imperial road", the Col du Chat became a "departmental road", while the other crossings of the mountains that remained passable (Col de l'Épine, Col du Crucifix) were only " medium communication roads", of local interest. At the end of the 19th century, there was already mention of further modernization of the route. In 1881, Victor Barlet, mayor of

and general councillor for Yenne, proposed digging a tunnel. At the same time, engineer Maurice Mollard proposed the construction of a

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

. A law passed in 1907 declared the construction of a

funicular railway A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...

between the port of

Bourdeau Bourdeau () is a commune situated in the Savoie department and in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in south-eastern France. It is part of the urban area of Chambéry.Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the proximity of the

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.Spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

made the Col du Chat a popular excursion destination. Several hotels and restaurants offered views of Lac du Bourget and excursions were organized for tourists. On July 11, 1937, President

Albert Lebrun Albert François Lebrun (; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republica ...

, who was on an official trip to Savoie, paid a "private escapade" visit - he had

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

on the terrace of the Col du Chat hotel - and in July 1943,

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

stayed at the same hotel, where he wrote the play .

Heritage

An oratory dedicated to Notre-Dame de Bon Secours stands on the roadside at the pass. It is built of ashlar and comprises a parallelepiped-shaped pedestal topped by a cornice on which is placed the grilled niche housing the statue of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, itself topped by a small iron cross. The whole is preceded by three steps. Between 1830 and 1944, a cement stone quarry, the remains of which can be seen 50 m east of the summit, was operated on the Col du Chat.

Activities

Tourism

Nowadays, the Col du Chat is used more for tourism, with a parking lot built 100 m along the road to Le Bourget-du-Lac at the start of hikes to the Dent du Chat and trails to the via ferrata and climbing site. Many hikers use it to reach the summit of the Dent du Chat via the normal route, of which the col is the start. At least until the late 1980s, the Col du Chat was on the route of the GR 9 long-distance hiking trail, which followed the crest of the Charve, Chat and Épine ranges. It was the southern starting point of the

GR 59 The GR 59 Grande Randonnée long-distance footpath in France connects two mountain ranges across relatively low-lying terrain. In the north, it begins at Ballon d'Alsace in the Vosges at a height of over 1000m. It loses height rapidly, and ru ...

, which split off from the GR 9 at this point. 300 m south of the pass, beneath the Cornillon rock, is a via ferrata, inaugurated on November 17, 2007, whose difficulty ranges from PD+ to AD+. Climbing is also possible on a cliff 400 m to the south-east below the pass, rated very difficult with levels ranging from 6b to 8b+. The pass provides access to a number of nearby villages and hamlets in the Mont du Chat heights.

Cycling

The

2011 Critérium du Dauphiné The 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, was the 63rd running of the Critérium du Dauphiné (formerly ''Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré'') cycling stage race. It started on 5 June in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and ended on 12 June in La Toussuire and cons ...

passed over the Col du Chat, then classified as a 2nd category climb from

Le Bourget-du-Lac Le Bourget-du-Lac (, literally ''Le Bourget of the Lake'' o is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern/south-eastern France. It lies near the Lac du Bourget and from Chambéry. Climate Le Bourget-du-L ...

, on stage 4

La Motte-Servolex La Motte-Servolex (; ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is part of the urban area of Chambéry.Mâcon Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...

. French rider Jérémy Roy was the first to reach the summit, just a few weeks before winning the Combativity Award at the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of Tour de France, the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 2 ...

. The pass was again on the Critérium program in 2015, on stage 2, which started from Bourget-du-Lac. Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka), the event's future best climber, took the lead. It is crossed by four Savoie cycle tourism routes: cyclo route 53 from Aix-les-Bains to Bourget-du-Lac, 50km long and classified as an athletic route; cyclo route 56 ''Tour de l'Épine'', an 88km loop around the Épine anticline, starting and finishing in

, classified as an athletic route; cyclo route 57 , starting and finishing in Chambéry via the Col de l'Épine and the Col du Chat, 54km long, classified as an athletic course; and cyclo route 58 , starting in Chambéry and finishing in Bourget-du-Lac passing through the Mont du Chat ascent and the Col du Chat, 62km long, also classified as an athletic course.

Environmental protection

The Col du Chat lies at the heart of the type II ''

Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique A Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique (Natural area of ecological, faunal and floristic interest), abbreviated as ZNIEFF, is a type of natural environment recognized by France. The inventory of a ZNIEFF area is an i ...

'' (ZNIEFF) (no. 7303), which encompasses the entire anticline complex. This zone is of great botanical interest due to the presence of forest habitats such as neutrophilous beech forests, one of which is located a few hundred meters north of the pass. Mediterranean-type species are also found here, such as dyer's sumach, and other species of great interest such as

anthora The Anthora is a design for a disposable paper cup for coffee that has become iconic in New York City daily life. History The cup was originally designed by Leslie Buck of the Sherri Cup Company in 1963, to appeal to Greek-owned coffee sho ...

, which forms on exposed scree slopes. The area is also characterized by the presence of mountain species at particularly low altitudes, as well as Alpine and Jura species at the limits of their range. It is a breeding and feeding ground for a variety of species and forms an ecological corridor linking the Jura massif with the sub-alpine massifs. The pass is also located at the southern end of the ZNIEFF type I (no. 73030005), which encompasses the summit and the entire western slope of the Charvaz mountain. The exposure of this slope has led to the development of drought-adapted environments, the protection of which is a European issue in the 21st century. 400 m west of the pass, on the edge of the road leading down to the Rhône valley, lie the former Pommaret quarries, also classified as a type I ZNIEFF (no. 73030006). Covering an area of 1.35 ha, the cavities are home to numerous bat species. 400 m north of the pass lies the southern end of the site of Community interest known as the ''Avant-Pays Savoyard network of wetlands, grasslands, moors and cliffs'', proposed for creation in April 2002 over an area of 3,156 ha, and the Avant-Pays Savoyard

special protection area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

, classified since April 2006 over an area of 3,125 ha. These two classified areas are part of the

network. Their perimeters are virtually identical, and some areas extend to the foot of the pass, 2 km west of the summit.

Popular culture

The Cat's Tooth is attached to a popular legend originating in , part of the

Vulgate cycle The ''Lancelot-Grail Cycle'', also known as the Vulgate Cycle or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is an early 13th-century French Arthurian literary cycle consisting of interconnected prose episodes of chivalric romance originally written in Old French. T ...

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

, which features the monstrous feline ''Chapalu''. A fisherman on

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

who fails to catch a single fish promises to offer his first catch to God, and breaks his word. He reels in a small black cat on the third catch, and offers it to his children. The animal becomes monstrous, and he releases it into the mountains. The cat then devours the fisherman's entire family, and attacks the travellers. It is finally killed by

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, who provokes it with

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

's help. Pouncing on the king, the Chapalu is slaughtered. Local

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

has variations on this story, in which the cat's death is attributed to two brothers who attack him with a war machine and finish him off with a cutlass, or to a soldier from Le Bourget, who kills him with an

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

. Similarly, the

replaces the old location. From the 14th century onwards, the creature was described as entrenched in a large cave, and from the 16th century onwards,

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

's legendary battle was moved to Mont du Chat. The name of the mountain, known since 1232, would attest to the fixation of the legend. In 1619, the Franciscan Jacques Fodéré recopied the legend as a cat the size of a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

, and introduced Arthur's two brother knights, Berius and Melianus. At the end of the nineteenth century, Émile Freymond collected popular traditions relating to this legend. He was told by the elders of the Savoyard region that the cat devoured one in ten or one in twenty travellers from a cave near the pass, and that a knight or soldier who was the tenth to pass killed it. The mention of this "big cat" in

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

may have been popularized by the actual presence of the

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

until recently.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Portal, Mountains Mountain passes of the Jura Mountains of France Mountain passes of France Landforms of Savoie Climbs in cycle racing in France