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prehistoric sites, caves and shelters in the dordogne perigord,
pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory


The Pech Merle cave is situated close to the village of de Cabrerets, Lot county, France (How to find Cabrerets-Pech Merle).

    Why is it called "Pech Merle" ?
    In the lower third of France is a southern Latin culture called langue d'oc or occitan.
    Pech is the French writing of the occitan word puèg which means : a hill. We pronounce as in "fresh". It appears in the name of many localities, written pech, puech, pioch, pey, and you can read it on the signs of the regionals roads. In old French, the good word is puy. For Merle, we know nothing. It could be an ancient Gaelic word or from an older language, which could mean : hill, high area.

Within ten kilometres around Pech Merle can be found a dozen other caves with wall paintings. They are not open to the public. 

The upper network of the cave of Pech Merle has no signs of prehistoric use and has been known since the turn of the century. The prehistoric galleries, in the lower network, were discovered in 1922 by André David and Henri Dutertre, when they were 16 and 15 years old respectively. The examination of the paintings and engravings was immediately begun by Father Amédée Lemozi, the priest of Cabrerets.

The cave has been open to the public since 1926. It is classed as a 'historic monument' and is the property of the commune of Cabrerets which is responsible for its management.

The Pech Merle cave is a very large one. It is more than two kilometres long. The visitors can see about the third part of the galleries, seven large halls open the way to discover the exuberant and fabulous riches of subterranean sceneries.

"An art gallery in a palace of nature."

 In order to verify that the organisation of the tours and the number of visitors are adequate as far as the safety of rock art is concerned the CNRS subterranean laboratory at Moulis in the Ariège region associated with the Géologie-Environnement-Conseil private office studies the underground environment of the Pech Merle cave.

Do you want to visit the cave ?

This will help you during the virtual tour :

  • Right/Left : to be read in relation to the direction taken by the tour.

  • M : reproduced and explained in the Museum's exhibition halls (in French).

  • F : included in the film shown in the >Museum's cinema (in French).

  • The dates are given "before present" : 25,000 BP means 25,000 years before present.

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pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory

pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory

pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory






  •   The Black Frieze
  •   The ledge
  •   The ceiling
  •   The hall of the discs
  •   Footprints,
  •   The bear's gallery
  •   The bear's passage
  •   The wounded man,
  •   The cave pearls,
  •   The bison-woman,
  •   The dotted horses,
  •   The Combel gallery,


    • Open (2011) : Open every day, even Sunday and public holidays, from Sunday April 10th to  Tuesday  November 1st.

    •  Hours : Tickets are for sale from 9.30AM to 12.00 and from 1.30PM to 5.00PM. Even if you buy the tickets some minutes before the closing time of the ticket's office, you will visit both cave and museum after, except if the 700 visitors limit is reached.

    Rates in 2011 Euros
    Adults 15 years and over 8,00
    5 to 14 years 4,50
    children under  5 free
    Adult Groups (15 years and over) 6,50 July-August
    Adult Groups (15 years and over) 4,00 other months
    School Groups 3,50

     Bookings: To preserve the Cave and the prehistoric paintings, the visitors are limited to a maximum of 700 a day. So it is better, especially in July and August, to book by telephone (05 65 31 27 05 from France or +33 5 65 31 27 05 from abroad), at least 24 hours in advance (3 or 4 days in advance in July and August). Tickets must be bought 15 minutes before the tour starts. Generally, on Saturday and Sunday it's not so busy.

     
    pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory


    pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory
    pech merle, pech merle grottoe, cave of Pech Merle, dordogne perigord lot cabrerets, painted caves, painted walls, prehistory
    for any further information, please contact

    LE PECH MERLE
    46330 Cabrerets
    Tel : +33-565 31 27 05
    WEB : pechmerle.com
    GPS : DMS 44:30:29 N - 01:38:40 E DD 44,508052-1,644591


     

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