What awaits you in the caves of Almost

Once you descend into the nearly cave, you will be amazed by the marriage of colors, shapes and lighting that nature has created for itself. Alongside the concretions that cover the walls, the cave also features numerous pillars of stalagmites, 45 to 50 cm high, some slender, others cumbersome, unique in southwestern France.

Everything as a whole is harmonious. Fragile columns or sturdy pillars that connect the floor vault to the drapery like stalagmites. The undulating stems of these seem to us still visible in the dark, swaying with the breeze of steady air currents.

Discovery of the cave

In 1825, during the construction of the D673 road from Saint-Céré to Rocamadour, the entrance to an unknown complex was found.

It contains some large halls with very high stalactites, up to 10 m, and different types of colored calcite deposits. It was opened to the public in 1922.

Some 350 m of caves can be visited. In 2011, new caves were discovered, adding some 200m to the length of the caves and containing other large chambers up to 25m in diameter and 8m high.

There are aragonites in the cavities of this cave as well as geological formations such as gours, stalactites, stalagmites or anti-stalagmites.

History of the cave

Research began in 1953 when researchers wanted to explore the cave in search of river conduits. Indeed, the extreme humidity of the cave, the limestone deposits and the coloring of the walls suggest that a river conduit existed in this place. Unfortunately, for fear that the cave would collapse, the research was stopped. Work resumed in 1970 slowly following a small conduit.

With the advance of technology and drilling techniques, another room was discovered in 1998. Speleologists called it "the room of the star" because of the limestone stalactites which glow in the dark to form a starry ceiling. Indeed, there are several geological forms such as stalactites, stalagmites and fistulous.

With a light current of air as a clue, researchers continued to explore the cave in 2003 until 2007. It was in 2011 that the river conduit was discovered in addition to new paths estimated at 200 meters. In addition to this, the existence of an underground suite has been confirmed by speleologists as well as a regular air current. It was on May 14, 2011 that the members of the caving club of Saint-Céré confirmed these great discoveries.

You can discover the nearly caves during your stay at La Bourgnatelle campsite located just 10 minutes from the tourist site.