Roque Saint-Christophe
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La Roque Saint-Christophe is a limestone cliff known for its cave dwellings in the Vézère valley between Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil and Montignac in the Dordogne department in France . Nearby are the excavation sites of Le Moustier , which gave its name to the Moustérien period and where the bones of a Neanderthal man were found. During the Magdalenian period , the little church of the Tryglodite village of La Madeleine , which lies a little further down the river and which stands above the important archaeological site in the rock face, gave its name.
The approx. 900 m long and 80 m high rock face has about a hundred rocks , which are spread over five long high terraces washed out by the river. These natural caves were already inhabited by humans in the Upper Paleolithic .
In the Middle Ages , a fortified settlement built in the rock served up to 1500 residents as protection from the Norman incursions and the armed conflicts during the Hundred Years War . The complex was finally destroyed during the Wars of Religion .
A visit to La Roque Saint-Christophe gives an impression of the intense activities of its former residents. You can see the traces that they have left in the rock: channels, post holes, water containers, fire pits, stairs and corridors. A house built on the rocky slope was reconstructed using the old techniques, as were various construction machines from the Middle Ages.
literature
- Perigord - Dordogne ; The Green Guide. Travel House Media, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-8342-8995-7 , p. 232.
Web links
Coordinates: 44 ° 59 ′ 25 ″ N , 1 ° 3 ′ 52 ″ E