Day of launch for Lascaux IV – Franceinfo

It is a marvel ! I had the impression of being in the real cave, it is amazing!!!

enthuses Simon Coencas, aged 89, last survivor of the four adolescents who had discovered the cave on September 12, 1940, coming back on a visit a few weeks ago.

This is the first time we reconstruct the cave of Lascaux in its entirety

‘, explains Jean-Pierre Chadelle, an archaeologist at the county Council of the Dordogne. Installed in the all-new art international Centre parietal Montignac, at the foot of the hill of Lascaux, the replica will open to the public on December 15.

For this new project of 8,500 m2, both scientific, artistic and tourism, the objective is to revive the visitor “the same sensations” that the four young men who, believing unearth the underground of a castle, discovered the exceptional sanctuary prehistoric.

Until then, the public had access to “Lascaux 2″, a fac-simile of 90% of the frescoes, inaugurated in 1983, and renovated in 2009) after the closing, in 1963, of the original cave that the enthusiasm of the public had deteriorated.

For thirty years, we have undergone the frustration of the visitors who, with twenty minutes of introduction to the rock art, and then a twenty minute visit in the cave, complaining that it was too short

explains André Barbé, director-general of Semitour Périgord, in charge of the operation of the site.

In “Lascaux 4″, which reproduces the original at 100% and true to scale, the emphasis is first on “the inner experience” that may represent the discovery of these paintings, realized there are about 18,000 years and classified by Unesco since 1979 in the world Heritage.

The beginning of the visit simulates the outside of the hill of Lascaux, to the barking of the dog had found the opening éboulée of the cave.

once inside, it is total darkness, and then the route begins with discreet lighting, which turns on and off the passage of the tourists, guided by the explanations are deliberately kept to a minimum.

After a about thirty minutes dedicated to the “contemplation”, the time comes to “understanding” : a scenography of 700 m2 provides a perspective on the frescoes, with in-depth studies of the main panels, a review of the latest findings (sketches, drafts, additions) revealed by the progress of imaging, the links between rock art and contemporary art…

Nestled in a sober building of concrete while length (150 meters long) semi-buried, that fits such a “flaw in the landscape” on the opposite side of the hill, the replica resumes the dimensions, the contours of the ground, the slopes” of the original cave.

Only small galleries at the end of the cave, where it is extremely difficult to penetrate, were not entered in the facsimile, but is to be discovered in the rooms that follow. Both by facsimile and by the different devices, the public has access to all of the Lascaux cave

explains Jean-Pierre Chadelle

The goal of the “Lascaux 4″ is also to ensure a “sanctuarisation ” total” of the historic site that the flow of tourists and vehicles visiting the “Lascaux 2″, in the immediate vicinity of the cave of original sin, had come to threaten them.

When it was discovered that the decorated caves were fatal and that the overflow of visitors to the condemned, it was necessary to close

says Jean Clottes, prehistorian, a member of the scientific college, who supervised and scientifically validated the project of “Lascaux 4″.

an overall budget of 66 million euros, “Lascaux 4″ has been carried out by the experts of the Workshop of the facsimiles of the Périgord, that are specialized in this type of re-enactments, and already designers of “Lascaux ” 3″, travelling exhibition, reproducing the main wonders of the cave of périgord.