Grottes du Quéroy

Grottes de Barouty

Useful Information

Location:	Rte des Grottes, 16380 Chazelles. D412 between Ronzac and Treille, turn right on single lane road, signposted, ends at parking lot. 5 minutes walk. (45.652622, 0.317794)
Open:	APR to mid-MAY Mon-Sat 16, Sun 14:30, 16. Mid-MAY to mid-JUN Sun 14:30, 16. Mid-JUN to JUN daily 14:30, 16. JUL to AUG daily 14-19. SEP to mid-NOV Sun 14:30, 16. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 9, Children (4-12) EUR 6, Children (0-3) free. Groups (20+): Adults EUR 6. [2023]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	T=8-12 °C, L=1,200 m, VR=35 m, A=145 m asl.
Guided tours:	L=800 m, D=60 min.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	M. Trapateau (1928): Les Grottes du Quéroy-Pranzac, Etudes Locales, 9e année, N. 81, mai 1928, pp. 190-192 pdf Norbert Casteret (1940): Mes cavernes Perrin, Paris 1940.
Address:	Grottes du Quéroy, Rte des Grottes, 16380 Chazelles, Angoulême et les environs (Charente), Tel: +33-545-703814, +33-545-674709. Office de Tourisme La Rochefoucauld Porte du Périgord, 1 ter rue Adolphe Maillard, 16110 La Rochefoucauld en Angoumois, Tel: +33-545-63-07-45.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1892	discovered by a dog chasing a fox.
1892	opened to the public.
1930	explored by Norbert Casteret.
1960s	developed, electric light, opened to the public.

Description

The visit to the Grottes du Quéroy is an 800 m long one-way trip through 30 chambers with all kinds of speleothems. In the cave numerous archaeological remains were found, which are now on display in the musée d'Angoulême. The oldest were dated to be 7,000 years old.

The cave was discovered by Lise Bosnot walking her dog Pastille. The dog was chasing a fox into his foxhole, which actually was the cave entrance. The caves were named Grottes de Barouty and almost immediately opened to the public. However, the development was very easy, the cave is horizontal. The first speleological exploration was actually made almost 50 years later by the famous Norbert Casteret.

During World War II the caves were used as a hideout by the resistance. Unfortunately they damaged some speleothems at the entrance.

The cave is located in the forest, a narrow road ends in a gravel parking lot. There seems to be a playground for children and a minigolf, but the whole site has definitely seen better times. It is in the state of the last renovation in the 1960s. Nevertheless, the cave is well developed with concrete trails and electric light, and definitely worth a visit. It is also the only show cave in this part of France, the next caves are found in the Perigord to the southeast.

There are unfortunately different and inaccurate open hours on the web, which is complicated by the fact that they have shut down their own website. A rather sad development which unfortunately makes it impossible to decide which version is correct. We settled for the most recent page, and hope all the other pages describe special open hours during the pandemic. We strongly recommend checking with the cave before you drive hundreds of kilometers. Unfortunately, we do not even have an email address, and we are not sure if the phone number is still valid.