Aven Armand, Dargilan and Bramabiau - The great natural sites - An exceptional heritage

Since the end of the 19th century, three exceptional underground spaces discovered by Edouard-Alfred Martel, the father of French cave exploration, have been counted among the country’s great natural sites. With his second-in-command, Louis Armand, he made it possible to open these spaces to the public as early as the 1890s.

Aven Armand swallow hole

400 stalagmites formed by nature over millions of years can be seen in this immense underground chamber, large enough to contain Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Discovered on the Causse Méjean in September 1897, this site has been in tourist use since 1927.

Aven Armand swallow hole is part of the Eco-Museum of the Causse and Gorges.

Visiting :

Aven Armand - 48150 Hures-la-Parade
04 66 45 61 31
www.aven-armand.com

Dargilan, the pink cave

The hall of the mosque

This underground maze, discovered in 1888 by Edouard-Alfred Martel and first developed in 1890, made Dargilan the first cave to be opened to the public. It contains a great variety of concretions and a calcite flow unique in the world (2,000 square metres in one block).

Visiting :

Dargilan - 48150 Meyrueis
04 66 45 60 20
www.grotte-dargilan.com

Bramabiau

Bramabiau, considered the true cradle of French cave exploration, is a strange site, a veritable underground canyon, at the bottom of which runs the Bonheur river.

Visiting :

Abîme de Bramabiau
Route de Meyrueis - 30750 Camprieu
04 67 82 60 78
www.abime-de-bramabiau.com