Photo : Sémhur / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
La Grotte du Grand Roc
The Grand Roc cave opens in the cliff overlooking the Vézère, at Les Eyzies, in the Dordogne, on the right bank of the river, near the Laugerie-Basse shelter. Carved into Upper Cretaceous limestones, it shows no trace of prehistoric occupation. The speleologist and prehistorian Jean Maury discovered it in 1924, after two years spent boring a tunnel of about forty metres. It was developed for visits in 1947.
It is especially renowned for its helictites, concretions that grow in all directions and form a kind of mineral forest, as well as for its calcite triangles, rare in French show caves. Barriers and glass protect the most fragile formations. The site has been part, since 1979, of the Vézère valley sites inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage, and has been listed as a picturesque site since 1977. The Michelin Guide awards it two stars.
