In France you can find one more cave - Pech Merle Cave. Thousand years ago, it was also home for our ancestors. There, on the cave walls, were found the strange pictures of spotty horses. At first, the researchers thought that these animals were made by the primitive people up. Later, near the cave were found the animals’ carcasses and their DNA showed that these horses were real and lived about 25 000 years ago. People used this cave for about 20 000 years. There were also found drawings of mammoths and bisons, that were painted about 5 000 years ago.
Pech Merle Cave is quite large, its length is about 1,5 km. At least seven its chambers were inhabited for several thousand years. There were found not only the rock paintings but also children’s footprints. This cave is open for visiting. There are several inhabited caves that are available for tourists in the whole world. It was opened in 1926 but for a number of years the access was strongly restricted.
Number of visitors is also under a strict control. That was made according to the control of the wetness. A great amount of the carbonic oxide can destroy the wall paintings. Near the Pech Merle Cave were also found several caves with traces of the ancient people but they are closed to people. The wall painting in the Pech Merle Cave were saved thanks to the number of natural disasters. During the global warming this area experienced several violent landslides, as a result the entrance to the cave was solidly blocked.
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Useful staff nearby
Car rental office: 'UCAR Lamagdelaine' is located in 13 km (
on the map).
Fuel station: 'Garage Denis Charazac / Renault' in 6.1 km
Supermarket: 'Françoise Bonhomme' in 0.77 km
Parking: 'Motorhome Aire' in 5 km
Apotheek: 'Cabinet de Transaction de Pharmacies - Pharmathèque' in 4.2 km
Police station: 'Commissariat de Police' in 17 km
Cafe/restaurant: 'la terrasse du Pech Merle' in 0.04 km
Railway station: 'Gare de Cahors' in 17 km
Nearest airports:
» Lalbenque Airport ZAO - in 21 km
» Marcillac Airport RDZ - in 67 km
» Brive - La Roche Airport BVE - in 72 km
» Le Sequestre Airport LBI - in 75 km
» Roumaniere Airport EGC - in 95 km