Lascaux and the Vezere Valley- 4 Excellent Venues
The Vezere river is a tributary of the Dordogne, and the two
meet near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac before the Dordogne continues on
toward Bordeaux and the Atlantic ocean. Near the village of
Montignac, about 30 kilometers upstream on the Vezere, are some
excellent and unique venues, including the famous Lascaux cave.
Here are four that can be visited in one day.
1. Lascaux II- Lascaux is considered to be the number one
prehistoric site in all of Europe. The paintings on the site
date from 17,000 to 15,000 years ago. Shortly after that the
cave entrances were closed by mudslides or other natural means,
and thus the paintings were perfectly preserved until the modern
era. The cave was rediscovered in 1940 by two local boys who
were chasing their dog, and several years later it was opened to
the public. However, in 1963 it was closed again, as it was
discovered that too many people in the cave were causing the
paintings to deteriorate. Since then only a few scientists,
scholars or art historians per day were allowed in for several
hours maximum. For the past few years even those limited visits
have been stopped, as new signs of further deterioration have
been observed. The French government, however, took up a 10 year
project to make an exact duplicate of the cave. This effort,
which opened in 1983, uses exactly the same pigments that were
used by the Cro-Magnon artists thousands of years ago, and is
dimensionally accurate to less than one inch of error. It is
called Lascaux II, and is located only about 400 yards from the
original cave.
The quality of the artwork is the main reason that Lascaux is
considered the finest example of prehistoric cave paintings.
Done with only oil lamps for light and using high scaffolding,
the prehistoric artists who created this site were highly
accomplished artists. Most of the guided visits to Lascaux II
are conducted in French, but there are tours in English on most
days. One needs to call the Lascaux ticket office in Montignac
or the Montignac Office of Tourism to find out if and when there
is an English tour on any given day. If you have a group they
will probably set up an English tour for you and other English
speakers, but this needs to be arranged in advance through the
ticket office. Even though Lascaux II is a replica and not the
original, it is very well done, very informative, and not to be
missed. 2. St. Leon sur Vezere- This is another of the "Most
Beautiful Villages of France". Built in a picturesque loop of
the Vezere river, this charming village possesses two castles
and one of the finest Romanesque churches of the Perigord. The
church was part of a Benedictine priory which was founded in the
12th century. It was built on the ruins of a Gallo-Roman villa.
The remains of one of the villa's walls can be seen on the river
side. There is a picnic area next to the church on the banks of
the river, and a caf