Volcan de Lemptégy


Useful Information

Location: Saint-Ours-les-Roches
Open: 14-FEB to 09-APR Mon-Fri, Sun, Hol 14-17:30.
10-APR to 10-JUL daily 10:30-18:30.
11-JUL to 25-AUG daily 9:30-19:30.
26-AUG to SEP daily 10:30-18:30.
OCT to 11-NOV daily 11-17:30.
Train rides only during summer, on weekeneds, holiday and school holidays.
Last entry 2 hours before closing time!
[2011]
Fee: Adults EUR 9, Children (6-14) EUR 7, Children (0-5) not allowed.
Train ride: Adults EUR 12, Children (6-14) EUR 9.50, Children (0-5) not allowed.
[2011]
Classification: slag quarry
Light: n/a.
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Volcan de Lemptégy, RD 941, 63230 St-Ours-les-Roches, Tel: +33-473-622325, Fax: +33-473-622381.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1945 begin of hard rock quarrying.
1992 opened to the public.
2005 quarry finally closed.

Geology

The rock at this site is slag, a material consisting of magma fragments, full of holes and irregular shapes. The lava was thrown out violently by the volcano, formed clouds of molten rock grains. When falling down the volcanic ash forms a special rock which contains a lott of small bubbles. The rock here is a trachytic ash sander named Pouzzolane (pozzolan) after the village Pozzuoli, near Naples, Italy.

Description

The Volcan de Lemptégy is a huge quarry, where the volcanic rocks were mined since the end of World War II. The hard rock is important for many purposes, like building houses, gravel for roads, and more. A 90 minutes long guided tour through the quarry offers geologic background, shows volcanic bombs and the daily work of the quarry workers. There is also an exhibition called La Mine Explosive (Mine Explosive), which seems to be some sort of roller coaster ride.