Vis Spring, Spring and cave system in Vissec, France

Vis Spring is a powerful karst spring and cave system in Vissec, in the limestone hills of southern France. The water surges from a cave at the base of a cliff face and flows directly into the Vis River, which runs through the gorge of the same name.

The area around the spring was already settled in the Middle Ages, when mills used the water to process grain and other materials. Floods and conflicts damaged these structures repeatedly, leading to several rounds of rebuilding over the following centuries.

The name of the spring comes from the Occitan fos, meaning a spring or resurgence, from the Latin fons, fontis. The mills at the resurgence are older than 1097, when the family of Vissec made a donation to the chapter of Nîmes. Razed in 1629 by order of the Duke of Rohan, they were rebuilt and ground grain until a flood destroyed them in 1907; those restored in 2000 hold a permanent exhibition on milling and rural life in Vissec.

The trail to the spring starts from Navacelles and passes through open limestone terrain with no services along the way. Sturdy footwear and enough drinking water are worth bringing, particularly in the warmer months.

The cave behind the spring has been pushed to 2,984 m of passage and 114 m of vertical drop, mostly by divers of the European Karst Plain Project in 2007. The explored passages run beneath the Causse du Larzac toward the village of Vissec.