Photo : MPhernambucq / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Gouffre de Padirac
The Padirac chasm is a natural cavity that opens on the Causse de Gramat, in the Lot, on the borders of Quercy and Périgord. It is about 75 metres deep; an underground river flows more than 100 metres below the surface. Locals once called it the "Devil's hole".
Édouard-Alfred Martel descended it on 9 July 1889, on his twenty-fourth expedition, and discovered the underground river there. Development works, undertaken in the 1890s, allowed opening to the public in 1898.
The visit is made by lift or by stairs to the bottom of the chasm, then by boat on the river, before a walk under high vaults. Highlights include the Lac de la Pluie and a very large stalactite, the Grande Pendeloque, several tens of metres long. Allow at least an hour and a half for the visit.
