Visit to the cave

It is the only cave in Perigord to have original prehistoric paintings and natural concretions

The Villars Cave is one of Perigord’s largest underground networks with, up until today, about 13 km of explored ground. The underground river has dug enormous rooms linked to each other by passages. The infiltration waters have created fantastic natural scenery. During the guided tour, you can admire the impressive flows of calcite and fine stalactites, pools, translucent draperies and the countless stalagmites.

The prehistoric paintings were discovered in 1958 and are the legacy of the art of our ancestors.
More than 19000 years ago, the Cro-Magnon men frequented the Cluzeau massif. They were nomad hunter-gatherers. These prehistoric men developed a complex cultural world which was expressed through artistic expression.

In Villars, the prehistoric artists used manganese (black natural pigment) which was reduced to a powder and combined with a binder. Some paintings, such as the rotunda of horses is covered by a fine film of calcite, giving it its specific blue hue.
On it, there are many horses as well as ibexes and buffaloes, it is one of the rare human representations of prehistoric art.