Puy de Sancy

Puy de Sancy (, "Mount of the Cross") is a French mountain, the highest mountain in the Massif Central and the highest of volcanic origin in Metropolitan France. It is part of an old stratovolcano which has been inactive for about 250,000 years.
Puy de Sancy is in the Puy-de-Dôme departement in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the highest point of the department.
Name.
The mountain was called during the 19th century as "Puy de la Croix" ("Mount of the Cross") because there was a big cross on the summit (the top of the mountain). That name is kept in the Occitan language.
Geography.
Puy de Sancy is in the Monts Dore, a chain of volcanic mountains in the centre of the Massif Central and at about to the southwest of Clermont-Ferrand; it is within the borders of the "Parc naturel régional des volcans d'Auvergne" ("Regional Nature Park of the Auvergne Volcanoes").
Several small rivers (streams) have their sources on the sides of Puy de Sancy. In the valley to the north of the mountain are the sources of two streams called "Dore" and "Dogne"; at an altitude of , both streams are joined to form the Dordogne river.
Ski resorts.
There are three ski stations (places where people go to practice skiing) on the slopes of Puy de Sancy: "Super-Besse" and "Mont-Dore" (together they are called the "Grand Sancy") and "Chastreix-Sancy".