Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The caves of Lacave form a set of natural cavities located in the Jurassic limestones of the Lot in Occitanie. Accidentally discovered on 27 May 1905 by Armand Viré during the digging of a tunnel towards the League of Saint-Sol, they reveal a development of 1,500 meters, with monumental rooms one of which reaches 60 meters high. Their tourist development began immediately, allowing them to be opened to the public on 7 September 1905.

Armand Viré, a speleologist and owner of the site until 1947, discovered archaeological remains dating from the Solutrean and Magdalenian (Paleolithic), such as bone, horn and flint tools. These artifacts testify to a prehistoric occupation, while the caves became a major scientific and tourist site. In 1965, a medical experiment was conducted with seven women, including actress Anouk Aimée, to study mechanisms of obesity in isolated environments.

Today, the caves of Lacave are visited via a 1,600-metre electric train course, highlighting underground lakes, fluorescent concretions and huge halls. The site attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually, with a record 91,429 admissions in 2012. A documentary, Un Voyage Hors du Temps (2012), captures the poetic beauty, while nearby, the Carbonnières cave, opened in 2018, completes the tourist offer.

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