Chauvet Cave

Horse Panel © Patrick Adventurer – Pont d’Arc Cave

The Chauvet cave is about 8,500 m². Located in the south of France, in the limestone plateau of the meanders of the Ardèche River, it contains the oldest paintings known to date, between 30,000 and 32,000 BC. BC, period of the Aurignacian.

Horse and engraved mammoths © Patrick Aventurier – Cave of the Pont d’Arc

Barely 20 years after its discovery, the site is inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage cultural properties on June 22, 2014 under the descriptive name of: cave adorned with the Pont-d’Arc, known as Chauvet-Pont-Cave of Arc, Ardèche.

Panel of lions with a bison © Ponctuelle – Cave of the Pont d’Arc

As the light from the fire comes from below, the lighting of the paintings of the restitution must come from the ground. Thus, from the bottom of the footbridges for visitors, low-angle or grazing on the ground, all light sources are not visible to the eye.

Lighting from below the footbridges © Ponctuelle – Cave of the Pont d’Arc

Side color temperature, three colors are selected: 3000, 3500 and 4000 K. “This mixture brought out the hues of the cave,” says Remi Nicolas.

Backlighting draperies © Patrick Aventurier – Pont d’Arc Cave

Side lighting equipment, small LED Loupi spots are retained. Ramps of three or five devices are installed in places along the path.

Lighting plan, detail under a footbridge of the facsimile of the Chauvet cave © Ponctuelle – Cave of the Pont d’Arc

The guide that accompanies each group triggers a button for the general rise of the lighting of each station in thirty seconds. The cave then appears as if by magic.

During light settings of the horse sign © Spot – Pont d’Arc Cavern

The light design work was done in plan and in section, with the useful support of computer-generated images taking into account the complex geometry of the restitution.

Chiaroscuro and relief in the back room © Patrick Aventurier –

Cave of the Pont d’Arc Pont d’Arc

Cave Route For the restoration of the Chauvet cave, the architects Fabre-Speller and Atelier 3A propose a circular building 70 m in diameter integrated into the landscape. The 8,500 m² of the original cave are compacted in anamorphose over 3,000 m². The maximum capacity is estimated at 3700 visitors per day by the delegated company. From the outside, architectonic concrete façades reproduce the principle of the cliffs of the Ardèche gorges.

Inside, accompanied by a guide, the imposed course of the visitors is carried out by group during one hour. The trips are made on a bridge that also serves to hide the projectors.

• 10 stop and observation stations of 3 minutes are planned.
• 27 main panels of the Chauvet cave are restored.
• 300 people, maximum gauge of reception inside the facsimile.

Horse Panel Overview © Patrick Adventurer – Pont d’Arc Cave

Without falling into the spectacular, the staging is theatrical but also realistic. To find the atmosphere of the underground environment, the five senses are stimulated. Freshness, humidity, silence, darkness, olfactory sensations help immerse visitors in the world of a cave. Thus, the constant temperature is regulated at 18 ° C.

Lion’s Panel © Patrick Aventurier – Pont d’Arc Cave

The visit ends with the large fresco of lions, a monumental panel twelve meters long, from which 92 moving animals emerge.

To a facsimile of the Chauvet cave

At the risk of losing all its beautiful treasures and to ensure its conservation, since its discovery, the cave Chauvet can not welcome visitors frequently. How then :

• share his frescoes and historical remains,
• develop their contemporary interpretation,
• to promote tourism around this universal discovery?

Far view – Cave of Pont d’Arc, Ardèche © Fabre-Speller Architects, Atelier 3A, F. Neau, Scene, Sycpa – Photo Patrick Adventurer

In 2007, a major facsimile reconstruction project was mounted on the site of Razal, near the Pont d’Arc. Entitled “Space of Restitution of the Grotte Chauvet”, it is piloted by:

• the Mixed Syndicate of the Pont d’Arc Cavern,
• the Department of Ardeche,
• the Rhône-Alpes Region,
• with the support of the French State and Europe.

Architects, scenographers and award-winning lighting designers

In 2008, the winners of the architectural competition are named:

• Fabre-Speller and Atelier 3A, Associate Architect Teams,
• Scene for the scenography,
• Ponctuelle for the light.

Stage of the creation of the restitution of the cave

The creation of the replica of the cave will follow several steps:

1. Realization of a 3D digital model from the recording of a “cloud of points” in the original cave by the firm Pérazio. The technical synthesis and the 3D modeling, the coordination and the technical direction are carried out by SOCRA-Campenon Bernard Regions (Vinci Construction France).
2. Construction of a huge concrete shell faithful to the morphology of the cave by the company Freyssinet-Cofex-AAB. Scientific follow-up: Edytem.
3. Paintings of the parietal panels by Arc and Os (Montignac / Dordogne), Alain Dalis. Graphic design Gilles Tosello (Toulouse), Déco Diffusion (Toulouse), Bernard Toffoletti. Reproduction of bones by Cossima Production-Dasplet (Saint-Priest / Rhône), Agathe Max. Scientific monitoring: Jean-Michel Geneste and Jean-Jacques Delannoy.
4. Integration of the artistic, geological and archaeological elements created in the workshop.
5. Installation of the traffic gateways, electrical installation, installation of LED projectors by the ETEC company and light adjustment with the Ponctuelle agency.

Great Project of the Cave of Pont-d’Arc

Reportage from the discovery to the construction of the facsimile

Cave of the Pont-d’Arc, a restoration of the Chauvet cave, Le Point