La Brèche de Roland is a natural gap, 40 m across and 100 m high, at an altitude of 2804 m in the steep cliffs of the Cirque de Gavarnie

Cirque de Gavarnie

The Cirque de Gavarnie is a cirque in the central Pyrenees, in the Pyrenees National Park. The cirque is 800m wide and about 3000m wide at the top.Major features of the cirque are La Brèche de Roland and the Gavarnie Falls....

 in the Pyrenees

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...

. It forms part of the border between France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

According to legend the Brèche was cut by Count Roland

Roland

Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...

 (a nephew of Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

) with his sword Durendal

Durendal

Durendal or Durandal is the sword of Charlemagne's paladin Roland in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France....

 in an attempt to destroy that sword, after being defeated during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass

Battle of Roncevaux Pass

The Battle of Roncevaux Pass was a battle in 778 in which Roland, prefect of the Breton March and commander of the rear guard of Charlemagne's army, was defeated by the Basques...

.

The Brèche can be reached from the Refuge des Sarradets, a nearby mountain shelter, in about an hour's climb.