Dordogne: discovering the Grand Roc cave with a storm lamp

Nearly forty years later, Jean Maury, a local boy, got it into his head that a decorated cave must be located nearby. He continued the excavations at Larthet a little further away.

In April 1924, while he was working at the foot of the limestone cliff, a trickle of water ran down his neck. Looking up, he saw a resurgence in the rock, higher up, about twenty meters above the ground. The man knew that the crumbly limestone could hide cavities within it.

Armed with pickaxes and a little dynamite, he digs down about twenty meters. And what he discovers leaves him speechless. It's not an ornate cave as he'd hoped, but a cavity filled with concretions: stalagmites, stalactites, calcite triangles, and even eccentrics fill the place. Equipped with a simple hurricane lamp, Jean Maury goes from surprise to surprise.

In 2024, the site celebrated the centenary of its discovery. A new scenography and new lighting were installed for the occasion. And, to give these concretions a little more depth, hurricane lamp tours, as Jean Maury experienced, are now organized.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. this Thursday, August 7. About twenty people are present. This is the limit to be able to fully enjoy the place. Unlike other chasms or caves, the route through the Grand Roc is quite winding.

Benjamin, a local enthusiast, accompanies the group. Everyone is entitled to their own personal torch. The access tunnel gives a foretaste of the discovery. "If Jean Maury continued digging, it's because he saw calcite, which means that water flowed through there," explains the guide. By the light of the torches (now electric), the concretions are revealed in a different light. We feel as if we've plunged into the soul of Jean Maury. Benjamin, teasingly, warns the children: "Watch out for his ghost."

Not fooled, the latter prefer to smile. Knowing the cave like the back of his hand, the guide tells visitors where to point their torches. Here, some eccentrics are revealed. Further on, a column, obtained when stalactites and stalagmites join together after several million years. After about thirty minutes, the group emerges into the open air... To better return to the cave, this time, with modern lighting. Of course, we can see much better.

The color differences, due to the minerals encountered by the seeping water, are more visible. We come across Excalibur, a sword-shaped concretion, broken by a visitor in the 1930s and reattached by geologists. But the charm isn't the same. It's certainly a feast for the eyes, but the "discovery" aspect is somewhat lacking.