Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

La grotto des Merveilles is a paleolithic adorned cave located in Rocamadour, Lot department, Occitanie region. It is located at the place called the Hospitalet, above the gorge of the Alzou, on the right bank of this stream. Its entrance gives access to a large oval room 45 meters long, rich in concretions and gours, where negative hands, horses, a cervid and a feline are depicted, engraved or painted in red and black.

The cave was discovered on October 16, 1920 by Mr. Lamothe, owner of the premises, as he sought to destroy animal burrows. The colourful concretions evoked pastries, hence his name. In 1922, André Niederlender and Amédée Lemozi studied his prehistoric paintings and engravings, dating back more than 20,000 years (upper Paleolithic, Gravettien or Solutréen). Michel Lorblanchet undertook a precise survey of these works in the 1960s.

Listed as a historic monument on May 16, 1925, the cave has been open to the public since 1921. However, it faces environmental challenges, such as the suppression of water intakes in certain parts and the weakening of paints by natural light. His works are compared to those of other Quercy caves, such as Cugnac or Pech Merle.

Michel Lorblanchet's research, particularly in 1970, helped to date the painted figures of the Solutréen. The cave remains a major testimony of prehistoric parietal art, although its conservation is now threatened by external factors.

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