About Cauterets

Cauterets has a very long history, stretching back to the Neolithic. There are supposedly many stone circles and dolmens in the area, although we have never seen them (or found them on a map). Later, the Romans identified the hot springs and built baths, traces of which have been found on terraces near the town.

The town didn't really gain popularity until the 18th century, when reliably passable roads were built, and people returned to take the waters. This reached its peak in the 19th century, when some of the spa buildings that can still be seen around the area were built, as well as the casino that now houses the cinema, a bar and the municipal swimming pool. The town was connected by electric train to the national network in 1899, and a couple of years before that a tramway had been built from Cauterets up the valley to the spa at La Raillère.

The tram station at Cauterets, built by the Eiffel company.

The area was a great favorite of the Romantics. The mountains and wild nature attracted a number of wealthy (and very interesting) adventurers, who came to conquer nature whilst admiring and no doubt getting a frisson from how terrible (in the old sense of the word) it all was.

After the spa and taking the waters boom of the 19th century faded, Cauterets began to sink into obscurity. There were ski clubs started, but many of the winter sports tourists headed instead to the more fashionable Alps. Plans for hydro-electric dams in the valley were defeated in the 1950s, and this led to the declaration of the Pyrenees National Park in 1967. The railway from Lourdes had closed in 1949 and the tramway to La Raillère closed in 1970, but by then a cable car from the centre of town to the Cirque du Lys had been built and the tourists were starting to return.

The cable car to the Cirque du Lys starts close to the centre of town.

Not that life has been consistantly easy since then. In 2013 the road towards Lourdes (and the town's connection to the outside world) were washed away in a flood that also destroyed a number of  buildings in town. This resulted in the "laces" which can be seen at 3:50 in the video we took last year. The road was damaged again earlier this year, once again isolating the town, and also destroying telephone and internet connections. Our host Celine said it was slightly difficult - but rather nice.