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La Roque Saint-Christophe |
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Troglodyte Fortress & City
The visit began 55,000 years ago |
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Troglogyte Architecture
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The visit of la Roque Saint-Christophe gives you an idea of how the cave dwellings were fitted out to live in :
either with vast terraces which themselves had been dug, or with shallow shelters whose living area was increased with beams. The housings for these beams and posts can be found by thousands on the walls and on the ground. They show the place where not only the floors but also the roofs, fences and bulkeads used to be.
Everywhere you can also see hundreds of rings carved into the limestone, whose purpose is still somewhat vague given the wide range of sizes and the different locations on the walls (for tethering small cattle, hanging up food, hoisting, etc.).
Other items such as tanks and ovens, staircases and monolithic trunks, as well as a church in which crosses and a few tombstones were carved clearly show that la Roque Saint-Christophe was not just a temporary refuge but a permanent dwelling place, well equipped and probably better protected than many other cities.
Let's try to imagine what the fortress and the city must have looked like during the Middle Ages: an inextricable assortment of roofs, walls, stairs, ladders and balconies rising up on top of one another in three, four and up to five storeys, and sheltering the activities of a permanent population protected by its garrison. |
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The highlight of the visit, however, remains the arrival onto the Great Terrace (the largest in Europe), which offers an exceptional view of the Vézère valley. This huge shelter was once divided up into dozens of rooms and could alone contain several hundreds of persons. |
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| > Opening dates and times |
Open all year round, every day for unguided visits
February, March and from October to 11 November : 10am - 6pm
April, May, June, September : 10am - 6.30pm / July, August : 10am - 8pm
12 November to 31 January: 2pm - 5pm / Last admission 45 minutes before closing time
In peak season, guided visits at fixed times
Bookstore / Gift shop open all year round - Snack Bar open from April to September |
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