Grottes de Carpe Diem


Useful Information

Location: At Manaurie, 7 km from Les Eyzies.
Open: closed.
[2011]
Fee: closed.
[2011]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours: L=200m
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Grottes de Carpe Diem, 24620 Manaurie/Les Eyzies, Tel: +33-5-53069107.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History


Description

The Grottes de Carpe Diem was named after the Latin phrase Carpe Diem, meaning Seize the Day. It is from a poem by Horace and has become an aphorism. The cave with this extraordinary name is a small karst cave with many speleothems. Despite its location close to Les Eyzies, it is not a prehistoric cave.

The cave was used as a show cave since the early 20th century, but is closed at the moment. Actually it is closed for several years now and looks long abandoned. Unfortunately it is still listed on many tourist cave inventories.