Pech Merle cave, Prehistoric cave art site in Cabrerets, France
The cave system extends over 2 kilometers with stone walls decorated by numerous paintings of spotted horses, mammoths, bison, and human handprints.
In 1922, three teenagers discovered the deeper sections of cave art after exploring the underground passages for two consecutive years.
The cave paintings demonstrate techniques of early human artistic expression through detailed animal drawings and hand stencils dating back 25,000 years.
Visitors must reserve tickets in advance due to daily entrance limitations, with guided tours available in French and English lasting 60 minutes.
The preserved footprints of children remain visible in ancient clay more than 800 meters underground within the cave system.
Location: Cabrerets
GPS coordinates: 44.50743,1.64431
Latest update: June 23, 2025 09:38
France features a notable variety of protected natural areas, showcasing the country’s geological and ecological richness. From Lake Allos in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to the underground rivers of Padirac in Dordogne, from the mountain ranges of Savoy to the limestone formations of the Ardèche gorges, each region displays landscapes shaped over millennia of natural evolution. This collection gathers sites where nature is expressed freely: primary forests, karst systems, high-altitude lakes, moving dunes of the Atlantic coast, and rock formations carved by erosion. These areas provide diverse ecosystems, home to species adapted to different environments, from Alpine flora and fauna to dune communities and underground cave biodiversity. Each natural site in this selection serves as an open-air laboratory where geological processes, ecosystem dynamics, and living adaptation to local conditions can be observed. These sites invite discovery of authentic landscapes, removed from human impact, where geological time is evident in every rock formation and glacier valley.
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