On 12 September 1940, a young French guy by the name of Marcel Ravidat was taking his dog for a daily walk. He could have never imagined the great discovery that followed.
At one point, Ravidat’s dog Robot fell into a hole in the ground. Curious to discover more, Ravidat came back to the place a few hours later with some more friends. Going down the hole, they were the first to discover a huge complex of caves with over 600 parietal wall paintings dated back to around 17,000 years ago.
The complex contains nearly 6,000 figures of mostly animals, humans, and abstract signs. Over 900 figures can be identified as animals, and 605 of these have been precisely identified.
The most famous section of the cave is “The Hall of the Bulls,” where bulls, equines, aurochs, stags—and the only bear in the cave—are depicted.
Lascaux was inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979. Unfortunately, the original caves have been closed to the public since 1963, as their condition was deteriorating—but a visitor center including many replicas is open to the general public.
Address: Avenue de Lascaux 24290 Montignac
Opening hours: Every day 9am-8pm