A French cave between fantasy & reality - visit to the center of Earth. Discover Aven Armand the cave that hosts the world record tallest stalagmite situated in France - a 3 star site to visit absolutely.

2. Aven Armand: a fantasy underworld awarded 3-stars by
Michelin and home to largest Stalagmite in the world
Aven Armand is a cave, situated in the south east of France which
has recently been awarded 3 stars by the Michelin Guide. You will
find this amazing and fantastic site on the ‘Mejaen Causse’, a
high limestone plateau in the heart of the Lozère department,
between some of wildest and the most beautiful french landscapes,
between the “Tarn Gorges” and “Jonte Gorges”, listed as an
Unesco World Heritage Site.
The Visit of An historical Jewel
A funicular allows easy access
to visit Aven Armand, more than
a 100 meters underground.
You will discover one of the
most natural jewels in the
history of humanity. From the
platform overlooking the room,
which could potentially
accommodate Paris’s Notre
Dame Cathedral, you will admire
Aven Armand’s breath-taking
forest of 400 stalagmites.
♿Access to this platform is equipped for person with reduced mobility
Live an incredible experience underground: between
fantasy and reality
This stalagmite forest is unique, and it is not
only the volume of the cave that will impress
you, it is also the size of the stalagmites,
which can exceed a metre high. There are
400 limestone columns standing on a slope of
2000 m2. This forest of lace stone has been
built drop by drop for hundreds of thousands
of years. "The great stalagmite," is nearly
30 meters high, and landed a world record
for being the highest stalagmites ever
discovered on earth.
3D Mapping :
How does it work ?
3D image creators and
designers of lights, project
chosen images on the cave
walls, giving the impression of
being real .
IF YOU REQUIRE MORE
information or pictures about the cave Aven
Armand, please don’t hesitate to contact
Josephine Besson by mail:
josephine @relevanceweb.com or by phone
+336 64 95 50 49
You can also visit our website:
Aven Armand
Or our Facebook Account

3. The guided Cave tour starts 100 meters
underground; guests lose track of time,
carried away by the breath-taking sight, a true
experience of the underworld, where lights,
sounds and images flicker between fiction and
reality.
There are 8 stops on the Tour, six of which add
sound and light to add to the magic. Projected
images project colourful waterfalls, strange
plants and giant crystals... Strange creatures
from the centre of the Earth make up the finale.
Aven Armand: must-visit underworld
adventure
The fabulous history of the Aven Armand:
For several millennia, the access shaft to Aven Armand was
a terrifying legend, accused to swallow livestock and lost
travellers. But on the 18th
of September 1897, on the
windswept plateau, the blacksmith Louis Armand
discovered by chance "the master hole”. The next day,
Armand and Edouard Alfred Martel, pioneer of
speleology, and good friend of Armand, along with Armand
Viré, set out to discover this fantastic cave, equipped with
ladders, ropes, and boxes of lights ... "It's huge! Superb!
A real stone forest, Mr Martel it is gorgeous; there are at
least 100 columns. The highest has 25 meters. I've never
seen anything like it! "Exclaimed Louis Armand after a
descent of 75 meters in the unexplored darkness of the
Aven which would now bears his name.
Exploration continued in the years that followed and Martel
was desperate to show the World the wealth of this
discovery, but it was too difficult and expensive. It took
30 years for entrepreneurs from Toulouse to agree to invest
in the project. Work began on the 1st
of June 1926. A 208
meter tunnel was dug to 60 meters under the ground,
where stairs lead to the heart of the cave ... On the 11th
of
1927, the "Crystal Forest" was finally opened to the public.
Aven Armand was upgraded with the railway and in 2014
new lightening added to give the visitor a more attractive an
increasingly fantastic journey…
Back stages of
this new magical
journey
in figures :
6 months work
250 LED
projectors
(50% saving
ennergie)
8 video projectors
30 high
directional
speakers
3.5 km of cable
500 m of optical
fiber
Key figures of the
Aven Armand :
1897 discovery of the
sinkhole by Louis Armand
1927 "Crystal Forest
finally opens to the
general public"
9 million visitors since
1927
110m depth
a 45-minute tour
route
almost 400 000m3 in
volume
room 45m high,
13Om long, 65m
wide in which we could
put Notre Dame de Paris
400 stalagmites over
1m
the largest stalagmite of
the equipped underworld
with almost 30m high

4. How to get there ?
Aven Armand is in the French village of ‘Hures La Parade’ that
is situated 88kms away from Montpellier’s Airport – with
direct fights from London (starting from 20€).
It will take you 2h31 minutes (88€) to reach the cave by bus and
1h55 minutes in a rental car (25 tolls & petrol), which probably
is the best way to get there.
You can also come by train, taking the Eurostar to Montpellier
or to Nimes.
The closest town to Aven Armand is Meyrueis where you will
find a large range of hotels and restaurants.
We recommend Hotel Le Mont Aigoual for medium budgets, the 3 stars
Hotel Family for smaller budgets, and if you are looking for a real luxury
experience choose the 12th
century: The Chateau d’Ayres.
In the town you will find typical French restaurants to enjoy the South of
France traditional cuisine.
Tariffs
Adults 10,50€
Teenagers (15 to 20) 8,40€
Children (5 to 10) 7,35€
Geological Proces
1.ESTABLISHMENT OF CAVITIES BY
DISSOLUTION:
Flowing through the atmosphere and soil,
rainwater is enriched with carbon dioxide
and becomes acidic. Seeping into the
limestone by dissolving they create
cavities and galleries.
2. FORMATION OF STALACTITES AND
STALAGMITES FROM PRECIPITATION:
when seepage face a ventilated cavity, carbon
dioxide escapes, releasing the limestone dissolves
in water, it will sink to the vault forming stalactites
on the walls forming draperies, discs, and on the
floor, forming stalagmites.
An Aven?
A aven is a natural chasm
carved by water infiltration
in limestone.
Aven is the Rouergat’s name
of Celtic origin - the Celts
settled in the region in 1000
BC - which designates in the
caussenard language, a
natural opening generally
funnel-shaped,
communicating with an
underground cavity with a
vertical well.