Lascaux
Driving through the Perigord, it is hard to forget the region's history. The terrain, the geography, remind you around every corner that the valleys lay claim to being the cradle of life in Europe.
The high cliffs, carved out by rivers and ice over the millennia, are pock-marked with caves that once played host to ancient civilisations, previous incarnations of mankind, and were more recently used as hiding places and arms caches by Resistance fighters in the Second World War.
Most famous of the caves in the region is the brightly-painted Lascaux - to visit even the replica is a humbling experience, as you find yourself dwarfed by the connection to human history. In the video below, you can see the paintings.
I have written about the local caves in a non-Bruno novel, The Caves of Perigord.
The high cliffs, carved out by rivers and ice over the millennia, are pock-marked with caves that once played host to ancient civilisations, previous incarnations of mankind, and were more recently used as hiding places and arms caches by Resistance fighters in the Second World War.
Most famous of the caves in the region is the brightly-painted Lascaux - to visit even the replica is a humbling experience, as you find yourself dwarfed by the connection to human history. In the video below, you can see the paintings.
I have written about the local caves in a non-Bruno novel, The Caves of Perigord.
Le gouffre de Padirac
It's a bit of a stretch to call Le gouffre de Padirac local to St Denis - it's in the Lot département, and not in Bruno's jurisdiction. But as a tourist destination, day out, or marvel of nature, it's very much worth the journey.
While the Dordogne is filled with caves - empty ones, painted ones, caves full of skulls - Padirac is different. It is a hole in the ground that keeps on going. What you originally see as a 75 metre-deep chasm goes further underground. At 103 metres deep, the cave opens up into an underground river, and the high limestone walls give it the air of an underground cathedral to water.
While the Dordogne is filled with caves - empty ones, painted ones, caves full of skulls - Padirac is different. It is a hole in the ground that keeps on going. What you originally see as a 75 metre-deep chasm goes further underground. At 103 metres deep, the cave opens up into an underground river, and the high limestone walls give it the air of an underground cathedral to water.
According to local legend, the caves were formed as a result of a wager between the Devil and St Martin. The story goes that the Devil was taking a bag of souls to Hell when he ran into St Martin on his mule. St Martin wanted the souls freed, and the Devil agreed to do so if the mule was capable of leaping across a hole in the ground. When St Martin agreed, the Devil stamped his cloven hoof and created the cave. St Martin and the mule made the jump, the souls were freed, and the Devil returned to Hell empty-handed.
The scientific truth is somewhat more prosaic - the caves were formed when the roof of an underground chasm collapsed. It is not known exactly when the collapse occurred, but it is known that the cavern has been there since at least the 3rd century, and was inhabited in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The scientific truth is somewhat more prosaic - the caves were formed when the roof of an underground chasm collapsed. It is not known exactly when the collapse occurred, but it is known that the cavern has been there since at least the 3rd century, and was inhabited in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Abri Pataud
The Perigord is not short of caves. Caves with stalagmites, painted caves, caves turned into houses, caves that were used as Resistance weapons stores; the list goes on.
What sets Abri Pataud apart is in its status as the only cave to have been converted into a museum.
According to the Best of Perigord website, “archaeological digs have revealed that there were more than forty encampments there between 35,000 and 20,000 years ago covering the Aurignacian, Gravettian and Solutrean periods”.
While Abri Pataud survived 15,000 years of sporadic habitation, parts of the cave have been damaged by the passing of the past 200 centuries. The bulk of Abri Pataud has collapsed over the years, and there is only a small section open to the public.
By collapsing and shrinking in size, Abri Pataud has actually reverted to its roots. The first occupants, 35,000 years ago, were nomadic hunter-gatherers who only stayed in the cave for small periods. At that point in history, the cave was too small to support sustained occupation.
Fast-forward 8,000 years, and the insides of the caves had eroded with time, creating enough internal space to allow the Gravettians to live in Abri Pataud nearly full-time. But 7,000 years later the roof of the cave collapsed. No longer inhabitable, Abri Pataud became a burial ground.
The Abri Pataud Museum is in the cave’s long gallery, the only part to survive the roof collapse.
ABRI PATAUD
20, rue du Moyen Âge
24620 Les Eyzies de Tayac
Tel : 05 53 05 65 65
Mail : pataud@mnhn.fr
Open daily throughout the summer; contact the museum to arrange private tours in the off-season, or to confirm opening hours in spring and autumn.
What sets Abri Pataud apart is in its status as the only cave to have been converted into a museum.
According to the Best of Perigord website, “archaeological digs have revealed that there were more than forty encampments there between 35,000 and 20,000 years ago covering the Aurignacian, Gravettian and Solutrean periods”.
While Abri Pataud survived 15,000 years of sporadic habitation, parts of the cave have been damaged by the passing of the past 200 centuries. The bulk of Abri Pataud has collapsed over the years, and there is only a small section open to the public.
By collapsing and shrinking in size, Abri Pataud has actually reverted to its roots. The first occupants, 35,000 years ago, were nomadic hunter-gatherers who only stayed in the cave for small periods. At that point in history, the cave was too small to support sustained occupation.
Fast-forward 8,000 years, and the insides of the caves had eroded with time, creating enough internal space to allow the Gravettians to live in Abri Pataud nearly full-time. But 7,000 years later the roof of the cave collapsed. No longer inhabitable, Abri Pataud became a burial ground.
The Abri Pataud Museum is in the cave’s long gallery, the only part to survive the roof collapse.
ABRI PATAUD
20, rue du Moyen Âge
24620 Les Eyzies de Tayac
Tel : 05 53 05 65 65
Mail : pataud@mnhn.fr
Open daily throughout the summer; contact the museum to arrange private tours in the off-season, or to confirm opening hours in spring and autumn.
