Grotte Taillerie du Puy de Dôme

Musée de la Minéralogie

Useful Information

Location:	Route de Ceyssat, 63870 Orcines. At the foot of Puy de Dôme. (45.769414, 2.988952)
Open:	closed. [2024]
Fee:	closed. [2024]
Classification:	Underground Museum
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=250 m.
Guided tours:	L=250 m, D=30 min. self guided.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Grotte Taillerie Puy de Dôme, Route de Ceyssat, 63870 Orcines, Tel: +33-473-621741, Fax: +33-473-622329. Grotte Taillerie Puy de Dôme, 14 Rue du Port, 63000 Clermont Ferrand, Tel: +33-473-924928, Fax: +33-473-924929. E-mail:
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

1961	opened to the public.
2019	shop closed.

Description

Unfortunately, the whole site does not exist any more, it is permanently closed. It seems the owner closed the business due to old age, it was opened in 1961 and closed in 2019 after almost 60 years of operation. The jewelry shop still exists and is now named Taillerie Grotte Puy de Dôme and located at 14 Rue du Port, 63000 Clermont Ferrand.

This was actually a strange site, and the name was more or less a misnomer, at least when it was translated. Grotte Taillerie du Puy de Dôme (Cave and Stone Cutting at Puy de Dôme) is an artificial grotto which is more or less a mineral museum, and a jewelry shop. Subterranea Grotto is the correct name for an artificial underground space which is decorated with minerals. And it is located at the foot of the spectacular Puy de Dôme stratovolcano, the car park for the new panorama railroad is only a hundred meters up the hill. And there is a subtitle which was later added to make this clear, which is Musée de la Minéralogie (Mineralogic Museum). Taillerie is the French name for a jewelry shop, unfortunately, most translators produce something stupid like "Cave carving in the Puy de Dôme". This was the jewelry shop of a mineral collector who added a mineral museum to make his shop more interesting. It was also the only active stone cutting workshop in the Auvergne. The museum was built more or less underground, and as most minerals on display were of volcanic origin, the walls are made of the local volcanic rocks. It is neither meant as a lava tube nor cave replica nor as a mine tunnel, it’s just a stone backdrop for the exhibition. There was a 30-minute guided tour of the exhibition, but it was also possible to visit it self-guided.

While the mineral museum is gone, the Puy de Dôme is still there, and we strongly recommend a visit there. Not long ago there was a road to the top of the spectacular stratovolcano, but this road and the car park were crowded all summer. Now they built a railroad on top of the mountain and closed the road. The road branched off from the D68 right in front of the Grotte Taillerie, and today the turnoff to the railroad car park is right here. The volcano is a spectacular geosite and definitely worth a visit, although we do not list above-ground sites.

An unusual show cave. An artificial tunnel, 250 m long contains a few minerals and some fake speleothems. It is possible to see daylight through chinks in the wall of the tunnel which is meant to represent a lava cave. The tour ends in the gift shop which sells jewellery, some of which is made on the spot.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.