Vézère Valley

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Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Vézère at La Madeleine site
Includes
  1. Abri de Cro-Magnon
  2. Abri du Poisson [fr]
  3. Font de Gaume
  4. La Micoque
  5. La Mouthe [fr]
  6. Laugerie basse
  7. Laugerie haute [fr]
  8. Le Grand Roc [fr]
  9. Les Combarelles
  10. Le Cap Blanc
  11. Lascaux
  12. Cro de Granville (cro de Rouffignac)
  13. Roc de Saint-Cirq [fr]
  14. Le Moustier
  15. La Madeleine
CriteriaCultural: (i)(iii)
Reference85
Inscription1979 (3rd Session)

The Vézère Valley is known for its prehistoric cave systems, containing numerous cave paintings and hominid remains. They are found in the valley of the Vézère river between the communes of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil and Montignac in the Dordogne department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

UNESCO designated the systems as a World Heritage Site in 1979. Among the archaeological sites with remarkable caves is Lascaux.

Inscription as a heritage site[change | change source]

UNESCO description is:[1]

"The Vézère valley contains 147 prehistoric sites dating from the Palaeolithic and 25 decorated caves. It is particularly interesting from an ethnological and anthropological, as well as an aesthetic point of view because of its cave paintings, especially those of the Lascaux Cave, whose discovery in 1940 was of great importance for the history of prehistoric art. The hunting scenes show some 100 animal figures, which are remarkable for their detail, rich colours and lifelike quality".

List of the main sites named by the UNESCO[change | change source]

Code Name Coordinates Commune
85-001 Shelter of the Cro-Magnon 44°56′25.6″N 1°00′34.6″E / 44.940444°N 1.009611°E / 44.940444; 1.009611 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil
85-002 Shelter of the Fish 44°56′38.8″N 0°59′54.2″E / 44.944111°N 0.998389°E / 44.944111; 0.998389
85-003 Font-de-Gaume Cave 44°56′13.2″N 1°01′35.6″E / 44.937000°N 1.026556°E / 44.937000; 1.026556
85-004 La Micoque 44°57′27.6″N 1°00′23.5″E / 44.957667°N 1.006528°E / 44.957667; 1.006528
85-005 La Mouthe Cave 44°55′28.9″N 1°01′14.1″E / 44.924694°N 1.020583°E / 44.924694; 1.020583
85-006 Laugerie-Basse 44°57′03.8″N 0°59′57.5″E / 44.951056°N 0.999306°E / 44.951056; 0.999306
85-007 Laugerie-Haute 44°57′11.8″N 1°00′12.3″E / 44.953278°N 1.003417°E / 44.953278; 1.003417
85-008 Le Grand Roc Cave 44°56′58.2″N 0°59′54.0″E / 44.949500°N 0.998333°E / 44.949500; 0.998333
85-009 Les Combarelles Cave 44°56′36.8″N 1°02′31.6″E / 44.943556°N 1.042111°E / 44.943556; 1.042111
85-010 Cap-Blanc Shelter 44°56′44.3″N 1°05′50.6″E / 44.945639°N 1.097389°E / 44.945639; 1.097389 Marquay (on the Vézère)
85-011 Lascaux Cave 45°03′13.3″N 1°10′12.0″E / 45.053694°N 1.170000°E / 45.053694; 1.170000 Montignac (on the Vézère)
85-012 Rouffignac Cave or
Cro-de-Granville or
Miremont Cave		 45°00′31.7″N 0°59′15.5″E / 45.008806°N 0.987639°E / 45.008806; 0.987639 Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reilhac
85-013 Roc de Saint-Cirq Cave 44°55′33.9″N 0°58′02.9″E / 44.926083°N 0.967472°E / 44.926083; 0.967472 Saint-Cirq
85-014 Le Moustier (2 shelters) 44°59′39.6″N 1°03′35.5″E / 44.994333°N 1.059861°E / 44.994333; 1.059861 Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère and
Peyzac-le-Moustier
85-015 La Madeleine Shelter 44°58′01.3″N 1°02′11.1″E / 44.967028°N 1.036417°E / 44.967028; 1.036417 Tursac

Gallery[change | change source]

  • Lascaux, replica in the Brno museum Anthropos.
    Lascaux, replica in the Brno museum Anthropos.
  • Entrance of the Roc de Saint-Cirq cave.
    Entrance of the Roc de Saint-Cirq cave.
  • Shelter of the Cro-Magnon.
    Shelter of the Cro-Magnon.
  • Le Grand Roc Cave
    Le Grand Roc Cave

Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ "Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley". World Heritage Centre. UNESCO. Retrieved 11 March 2017.

Other websites[change | change source]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caves of Dordogne.
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