From A8 Saint Tropez-Monaco, from west exit Cannes and RN567 to Grasse, from east exit Nice and D2085 to Grasse. From Grasse RN85 to Saint Vallier de Thiey.
Karst cave.
Jurassic limestones (j4-5)
| Location: |
3km west of Saint Vallier de Thiey. From A8 Saint Tropez-Monaco, from west exit Cannes and RN567 to Grasse, from east exit Nice and D2085 to Grasse. From Grasse RN85 to Saint Vallier de Thiey. |
| Open: | All year. |
| Fee: | |
| Classification: |
Karst cave.
Jurassic limestones (j4-5)
|
| Light: | electric. |
| Dimension: | A=700m asl., L=1,122m. |
| Guided tours: | L=500m. |
| Bibliography: |
Christian Mellot (1997):
The Network of the Grottos of Baume Obscure,
Translated by Cyril Tildesley.
|
| Address: | Grotte de Beaume Obscure, Quartier de la Baume, Chemin de Ste Anne, F-06640 Saint Vallier de Thiey. Tel: +33-493426163, Fax: +33-493426919 |
| Last update: | $Date: 2008/10/09 18:29:45 $ |
| 1895 | first exploration by Guébhard. | |
| 1958 | exploration by Club Martel from Nice. | |
| 1982 | cave closed. | |
| 1985 | Grotte de Loube developed and connected with the Grotte de Cyprès. | |
| 1993 | Grotte Service discovered. | |
| 1996 | Souterroscope installed. |
Baume Obscure is not a single cave, but a series of nine different caves, all belonging to the same cave system, but not all of them connected. The oldest known cave is Grotte de Cyprès, first explored in 1895 by Guébhard. Most other caves are located around this one, and they are only 10 to 35m long. The Club Martel, a caving club from Nice, started work at the caves in 1958. They soon discovered new passages, the Grotte de Loube, and various other caves. The cave was subsequently visited by many cavers and even summer camps. Unfortunately this resulted in some damages of the cave and so it was closed by the owner 1982.
Four cavers, Denis Allemand, Jean-Marie Chabert, Henri Chabert and Pierre Crozatier revived the exploration work at the cave in 1985. Starting to remove the debris from a collapsed passage, they tried to connect various caves. They conected Grotte de Cyprès and Grotte de Loube N°1 by removing clay from 40m of blocked passage. It took 10 years to develop the cave for the public and finally it was the second show cave in the Alpes Maritime.
For two years the cave was visited only through the Grotte de Loube N°1 entrance, but then the Grotte de Cyprès entrance was developed too and now the cave is a through trip. But the most important development was the so called Souterroscope. Sound and light leads the visitor in several languages though the cave. The cave is not guided by cave guides, but only by the automatic multimedia installation. It was created by Christophe Guyard (music), Christophe Lebon (photographs) and René Petit (coordination).
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