This sheer, wild, 80-metre cliff dropping straight down into the River Vézère hides, almost secretly, a wonder of nature and a treasure of civilisation. Geological traces and man’s touching imprints mingle at this outstanding UNESCO World Heritage site. As you climb higher, space and time become one, from the Paleolithic Age to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The kitchen, places of worship and still-working ingenious devices are all magnificently recreated and explained to make this cave village an open book on 55,000 years of human settlement.
La Roque-Saint-Christophe, located within the town of Peyzac-le-Moustier, near the remains that gave their name to the Mousterian Period, is a rare, unique example of a cave village and its development. Many dwellings were built in the time-hewn grottoes of this kilometre-long limestone cliff on the banks of the River Vézère, especially in the Middle Ages. Traces of daily life attest to the earliest builders’ skills. Guided tours or guidebooks give a precise idea of what the once-teeming village looked like, with its ladder-staircases that the inhabitants climbed to reach their dwellings. The location of the church and its tombs is one of the visit’s most touching parts. On most summer mornings visitors can learn how to handle impressive machines like the “drum trowel”. But other surprises, mysteries and treasures await you in this place, which humans have inhabited for 55,000 years.
Ouvertures
Février/Mars et d'octobre au 11 Novembre : de 10:00 à 18:00
