When Herakles or Hercules, son of the goddess Hera, lit a gigantic pyre to ritually burn the body of the deceased nymph Pyrene, stones unraveled and liquified, and from the mountains became rivers of gold. Thereafter, the rivers of the Pyrenees were trodden in various stages of history by searchers convinced that its banks could find the rich metal.
Legend of the Pyrenees
