Larceveau (part of Larceveau-Arros-Cibits since 1842) sits in the Bidouze valley in the Ostabarret region of Lower Navarre. The old town center had a bastide plan that appears to have been destroyed during the 16th-century Wars of Religion.
The reason to stop here is the Harriak Iguzkitan centre ("stones in the sun" in Basque), established in 2007 by the Lauburu association. It displays some of the oldest and most beautiful traditional Basque discoidal steles -- funeral monuments with a trapezium-shaped base representing the earth and a circular top representing the sun. The complete structure symbolizes the soul's passage from earthly life to the afterlife. Some specimens date from the 16th and 17th centuries. The centre also explains the ezkoa candle, crafted from beeswax, which represents eternal life in Basque mourning practices.
The Col d'Osquich is accessible from here if you're a cyclist -- 8% gradient.
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