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Caves

La Roque Saint-Christophe

Caves

La Roque Saint-Christophe

Recommended by 85 hikers out of 88

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Location: Peyzac-Le-Moustier, Sarlat-La-Canéda, New Aquitaine, France

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Best Hikes to La Roque Saint-Christophe

3.9

(18)

hikers

1. Discovering Roque Saint-Christophe

9.97km

02:49

230m

220m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

4.7

(51)

219

hikers

2. Vue sur la Vallée de la Vézère – vue sur la vallée de la Vézère loop from Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère

15.5km

04:24

330m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

4.7

(11)

hikers

3. La Roque Saint-Christophe – Le Moustier loop from Tursac

24.8km

07:02

540m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Expert

Tips

Adélaïde de Valence

December 20, 2023

A unique troglodyte site in the world, Roque Saint-Christophe is a limestone wall 80 meters high and one kilometer long. Dug by the river and the frost, it contains around a hundred rock shelters and aerial terraces.

The site has been occupied by man since prehistoric times, before becoming a fort and a medieval city. The site, on which you can discover numerous reconstructions, is open all year round. It can be visited, subject to an entrance fee.

Translated by Google •

K2000

June 21, 2021

In one of the hollowed-out rooms there are two incised crosses and a baptismal font on the left. There are six graves on the right. To the outside, a half-vault with the bell tower was carved into the rock.

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☀️BirgitonTour☀️

May 30, 2023

The impressive rocky slope La Roque de Saint-Christophe above the Vézère valley is the result of deposits and erosion caused by the waves and currents of a primeval sea and the effects of the last ice ages.

It stretches over a kilometer in length and is more than 80m high. The car ride along the wall to the visitor parking lot is an experience in itself.

The rock face has 5 terraces that have been settled, enlarged and fortified in different stages.

First it served as a shelter for hunters and gatherers (from 50,000 years BC) and then for Cro-Magnon man (from 25,000 BC).
From the Neolithic period onwards, the rock terraces were continuously inhabited and expanded.

The most important period was probably from the early Middle Ages, when the rock was developed as a fortress against the raids and conquests of the Vikings, who sailed their ships up the rivers and captured the cities on it: the Seine (capture of Rouen), the Garonne (taking Agen, Toulouse, Bordeaux) until they were finally defeated.

In 1588 the history of settlement finally ended due to the destruction during the Wars of Religion.

The complex was beautifully and lovingly reconstructed and various rooms were clearly explained on boards. In a so-called “Abri” (shelter under the rock overhang), a film explains the eventful history of the rock face. A great experience, especially when you think about how many generations of people have already moved their feet over the rocks here. Today the rock face belongs to the many birds that nest in the small and large caves.

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Elevation 140 m

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Tuesday 21 October

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Max wind speed: 13.0 km/h

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Location: Peyzac-Le-Moustier, Sarlat-La-Canéda, New Aquitaine, France

La Roque Saint-Christophe

1. Discovering Roque Saint-Christophe

2. Vue sur la Vallée de la Vézère – vue sur la vallée de la Vézère loop from Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère

3. La Roque Saint-Christophe – Le Moustier loop from Tursac

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