Bugarach, a tiny village in the foothills of the Pyrénées, is at the end of the Earth in both senses of the term. Well, sort of.

It was supposed to be the only place to be saved when the world ended on Dec. 21, 2012 (or Dec. 12, 2012, depending on your source). According to certain interpretations of Mayan calculations, the planet Nibiru was to hit the Earth on that day, reversing the poles and making the Earth spin in the opposite direction. However, the extraterrestrials would either come out of their hiding spot in the caves and around the supposed underground lake of the mountain Bugarach, under whose shadow the village sits and whose name it carries, or they would swoop in from space and pick up folks smart enough to be there.


Bugarach (the mountain) is indeed unusual. First, it stands alone and looks pretty impressive with its bare pech (in Occitan; pic in French or peak), which at 1231 meters is the highest of the Corbières. Tectonic movement caused it to be “une montagne renversée”–an upside-down mountain, in which the bottom layers are older than the top layer. Supposedly this also causes the magnetic poles to be reversed there, which is why–presto chango–the mountain would be saved during the cataclysmic global pole reversal. The predictions were inflated by the Internet, drawing an international throng of ufologues (believers in UFOs, though the French term is OVNI–objet volant non-identifié–same thing), illuminés (crazies) and zozotériques (a local’s fancy word for zozos–more crazies). The little village of 200-ish people was flooded with folks who went to the mountain to conduct strange rituals in the nude and who collected the mountain’s supposedly magical rocks.
- Art.
Bugarach was big news in late 2012, and I kept meaning to check out the hippy dippy village–it’s about an hour and a half south of Carcassonne, a beautiful drive. Since then, it has eased back into quiet isolation. It’s a good 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the next village, making it feel quite a bit like the end of the earth…even though the world didn’t end, whether due to the nonexistence of Nibiru, miscalculations by the Mayans, or what.


This week was the start of De la Ferme en Ferme–From Farm to Farm–and the May 1 circuit included a loop from Rennes-les-Bains to Rennes-le-Château, passing through Bugarach for some sheep’s cheese. The two Rennes aren’t next to each other at all; Rennes-le-Château gained some notoriety with “The Da Vinci Code,” because of a fake buried treasure a local priest cooked up, spawning conspiracy theories. Rennes-les-Bains is the site of some Roman baths, of which there are many in the area.

Bugarach’s history also goes back to the Romans, who had a mine nearby in the first century CE. Then the Visigoths turned up around the fifth century; a cemetery remains. During the Wars of Religion, Calvinists from the north sought refuge in what would have seemed to be a safe place at the end of the world, but, no, they were hunted down in several massacres between 1575 and 1577. In the 1700s, Bugarach became known for hatmaking (up until 1990, and Queen Elizabeth and François Mitterand supposedly wore Bugarach brand hats). By 1831 Bugarach had more than 1,000 inhabitants, three hat factories, five water mills and many other businesses. It held three fairs, which must have been good, because it would have been difficult for folks to get to. I imagine many residents back in the day never left the village. Today the road is smooth tarmac (but only wide enough for one car; if you meet another vehicle, one has to back up to where the shoulder is somewhat wider to let the other pass), but when it was just a dirt track, it would have taken a long time to travel those dozen miles to the next town.

Bugarach today is very cute, starting from the view from afar. Everything is little.





What was left of the château was restored and turned into a community hall and exposition space, in what I thought was a decent mix of ancient and modern–something that doesn’t always work.
The town also has two charging spots for plug-in electric vehicles, which seemed exceptionally forward thinking. And three restaurants plus a table d’hôte for a town of 200! It shows how Bugarach continues to pull in people who today come to hike and enjoy the countryside.
Conspiracy theorists and the like are nutbars, but the area looks lovely. That mountain seems to be beckoning me- “come climb me”.
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It’s quite popular for climbing.
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That town has some colorful history! And now I’m going to drive my family crazy injecting that irresistible word zozoteriques into any conversation I can! 🙂
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Isn’t it great? I can just imagine the crusty old villager who would have said it.
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I spent a few days in a hamlet overlooking the mountain, not all that far from Rennes-le-Chateau. The ‘Da Vinci Code’ tours were still very present, with mini vans all over. The area is beautiful, but a little too remote for my liking. Nice for a visit and a brief stay, but definitely not for a lifetime!! 🙂
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I know! Great for a hike, but then I want to get back to civilization.
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Ha! The mountain looks like an ancient volcano to me, and they’re always magnetic…don’t tell the locals that!! Nice quiet spot and would suit my eating out habits were I to live there. 🤗
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Ah, no volcanoes around here. Just as well!
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i just found your site, wonderful post today.. Thank you for all your efforts.
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Welcome! Glad you like it.
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It looks fascinating! The landscape (not the architecture) reminds me a great deal of the Central Coast area of California.
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That’s funny–it reminds me of the highlands of Kenya. Small world?
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I too find the landscape of calif has a strong reminder of many of the European
countries.
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I remember when those the-end-is-nigh types were all over there. Rapture, indeed, and now it’s entered mainstream politics.
That mountain looks like Montsegur, but no ruined castle on top?
And now I want to know why ancient volcanoes are always magnetic.
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It’s a ways from Montsegur..
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EXQUISITE country side………GREEN GREEN GREEN!
XX
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Yes. Even in summer, because it’s in the mountains.
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Very interisting post. Lovely photos.
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Thank you!
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Amazing scenery!
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Pole reversals are a real thing though
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I just read about that. And that the north pole has moved quite a bit.
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You can see these magnetic shifts in reversals in geology too. And Nabiru was originally a Babylonian equinox crossing.
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