Photo : Wikimedia Commons
La Fosse de l'Ermitage
The Fosse de l'Ermitage is in the Braconne forest, a state massif of 3,904 hectares east of Angoulême, in the Charente. The forest, about 14 kilometres long by 4 wide, rests on a karst-type Jurassic limestone plateau.
Water has carved underground galleries there whose collapse created many pits and chasms, such as the Grande Fosse, 55 metres deep and 250 metres across, or the Fosse mobile, about 50 metres. The Fosse de l'Ermitage is one of these excavations: it pierces the plateau in a chasm 40 metres deep, overgrown with dense vegetation reminiscent of a tropical forest. The Braconne is listed Natura 2000 and shelters several species of bats, as well as protected insects such as the great capricorn beetle. Its oaks, pines and beeches make it a place for walks in the undergrowth.
