Grotto aux Fées
The Grotte aux Fées is a cave near Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais. It can be reached on a hiking trail in around 15 minutes from the car park at Saint-Maurice Castle . The cave has been developed for tourism and can be visited in the expanded part unaccompanied. It is considered to be the first cave in Switzerland open to the public for tourists.
history
In 1831 a distance of 600 meters from the entrance was walked for the first time. In 1863 it was opened to the public. Two years later, in order to make it better known, the grotto was renamed from its original name "Trou aux Fayes" to the current name "Grotte aux Fées" (fairy grotto). In the romantic age of that time in Europe, success was no longer a coincidence, because a visit to a grotto should make all dreams come true.
In 1925 the top of the waterfall at the end of the tourist gallery was reached for the first time and the upper cave network was discovered.
From 1935 to 1936, the Swiss Army constructed a connecting tunnel between the Cindey fortress and the Fort du Scex , in which a branch from the main corridor (gallery of the dead) was artificially extended.
Data
| Length of the developed tourist gallery | 504 meters |
| Height difference in the tourist gallery | 17 meters |
| Height of the waterfall and the chimney | 77 meters |
| Lake area | 75 m² |
| Air temperature | 10 ° |
| Water temperature | 9 ° |
| Length of the dead gallery | 480 meters |
| Length of the upper gallery | 1200 meters |
| Length of the whole gallery network | 2184 meters |
| Total height of the gallery network | +166 meters |
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 13 ′ 23 " N , 7 ° 0 ′ 6" E ; CH1903: 566284 / 119162