CIAP LASCAUX - MONTIGNAC

Google Maps:
45.058171, 1.169746

Type of site:
International Centre of Rock Art of Lascaux-Montignac

Place of location: Avenue de Lascaux (Montignac)
Village/Town: Montignac
Municipality: Montignac (Dordogne)
Region: Nouvelle Aquitaine
State: France
Telephone: (+33) (0) 553 509 910
Website: https://www.lascaux.fr/fr
E-mail: contact@lascaux.fr

Natural Environment:

CIAP Lascaux is located in the Vézère Valley, a tributary of the Dordogne. The Vallée de La Vézère was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of the significant concentration of caves and shelters with Palaeolithic sites and rock art that it possesses.

Archaeological evidences in the site:

The complete replica of the original cave is the culmination of three years of work in the Perigord Facsimile Studio. This new space welcomes visitors, inviting them to contemplate the works and experience the authentic emotion felt at the discovery of the cave, to observe, to enquire into the reasons for its existence and to reflect on the environmental and cultural context in which it was decorated.The architecture of the International Centre forms an integral part of the visitor’s experience: a half-buried building at the foot of the Lascaux hill, it is perfectly integrated into the landscape. A gigantic glass front invites the public to visit a universe firmly focused on technological prowess.Starting with its shape: there are no straight walls, a tangle of rooms with atypical shapes leads the visitor to the heart of a building of 8,000 sq m. A fault running its whole length evokes a gash in the hill or a prehistoric stratum recalling the passage of time.Continuing with its content: the various spaces with their uncluttered style and modern aesthetics contain the latest digital tools (enhanced reality, 3D screens, etc.). They incite the public all through the visit to enjoy an immersive and personalized experience.

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Opening Times:

From January 22nd to December 31st.

Booking and access:

https://ticketsdordogne.com/fr-FR/site?site=2005551963760400035

Nearby cultural destinations:

https://www.semitour.com/fr/nos-sites

Nearby natural destinations:

https://www.dordogne-perigord-tourisme.fr/

Accommodations (Tourism Website):
https://www.dordogne-perigord-tourisme.fr/
Restaurants (Tourism Website):
https://www.lascaux.fr/fr/cafe-lascaux

Age of the artistic representations:

The art of the Lascaux cave has been dated around to 17,000 years before the present, being considered as the culmination of the art of the Solutrense period.

General description of the destination:

Great cultural and tourist infrastructure that hosts a great facsimile of almost the entire Lascaux Cave and an interactive museum. The cave paintings at Lascaux (both painted and engraved) are mainly animal figures, with numerous horses, aurochs, bison, deer…, as well as some occasional representations of other animals, such as woolly rhinoceroses, felines, bears…

History of the site:

Lascaux Cave was discovered in 1940. Four kids (Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, Simon Coencas and Marcel Ravidat) and a dog (Robot) were the protagonists of the discovery, the most important one since the discovery of the paintings of Altamira (1879). Henri Breuil was the first archaeologist to authenticate the cave and describe it briefly. He carried out some research at the end of 1940 and spent several weeks in the place to study the artistic expressions he initially attributed to the Perigordian. In 1949 he returned and undertook a rapid excavation with Séverin Blanc and Maurice Bourgon at the foot of the well where he hoped to find a burial site. There he found decorated azagiya points, made of reindeer horn. From 1952 to 1963, at Breuil’s request, André Glory made detailed studies of the engravings and recorded 1,433 representations (today, 1,900 are listed). Later, the wall representations and their archaeological context were also studied by Annette Laming-Emperaire, André Leroi-Gourhan (and his entire multidisciplinary team, including Brigitte and Gilles Delluc and Denis Vialou), and more recently by Norbert Aujoulat. The cave has been visited by thousands of people, practically since its discovery. Various works aimed at encouraging tourist visits seriously endangered the cave and its paintings. Since 1983 the cave has been totally closed to visits, although there are currently up to 3 replicas, one of which is itinerant.

Museographic resources description:

The CIAP Lascaux is a formidable cultural and tourist infrastructure that hosts a facsimile of almost the entire Lascaux cave and an associated interactive museum. It takes us inside and discovers the Lascaux cave in all its splendour, with 8,500 m2 that include the replica of the cave and different highly technical museum spaces that show us the history of the monument, from when it was painted in the Upper Palaeolithic to the present day, passing through its discovery in 1940 and the ups and downs that led to its total closure. The cave paintings at Lascaux (both painted and engraved) are mainly animal figures, with numerous horses, aurochs, bison, deer…, as well as some occasional representations of other animals, such as woolly rhinoceroses, felines, bears, as well as complex signs.