Grotte du Mas-d'Azil

times

Complete diary
Saturday 18 July 2015
Opening times Cave : 09H30 / 20H00 Opening times Museum : 11H00 / 12H30
14H00 / 19H00
Guided tours Cave : 09H45
10H15
11H00
11H30
12H15 Tours in English
13H00
13H30
14H00
14H30
15H00
15H30
16H00
16H30
17H00
17H30
18H00
18H30
19H00

Information

icon_coordonnees Contact details Phone 05.61.05.10.10
Phone 05.61.69.97.71
Send an e-mail
icon_acces Access map Mas-d'Azil
icon_animaux Pets Pets not allowed here
icon_services Services Boutique
icon_tarifs Rates
Cave
€9.00
€6.90
€5.50
€4.50
€24.00
Museum
€4.50
€2.00
€3.00

Outdoors

An impressive natural site !

Mas d’Azil Cave is above all a natural site, with an exceptional geology and specific topography. It runs through a secondary range of limestone mountains that crosses Ariège from east to west over about 80 kilometres, the Plantaurel.

The main entrance is an immense porch – nearly 70 metres high and 50 metres wide – that opens out towards the south through which the River Arize flows. To the right of this great porch, another smaller, but totally artificial one (1876) allows the secondary road to run down to the village of Mas d’Azil, one kilometre below.

 

The cave’s geography is complex and the river’s and road’s twisting course delimit two areas that are quite distinct, both in geological and archaeological terms:

- the left bank, consists of a vast terrace about 100 metres long, situated under the great southern archway. It provides a huge protected area, well lit during the day. This great terrace, formed by a pile of blocks that have fallen from the archway, thus offered an ideal place for the prehistoric men to settle.
 
R. Kann

- the right bank opens up roughly half way along the tunnel. This more complex set of galleries and cavities is made up of three levels, located 50 metres above the river.

This is the part that can be visited at the present time.

diary



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