Grotte des Lauriers

Cave of Laurels

Useful Information

Location:	In the Gorges de l'Hérault between Laroque and Saint-Bauzille de Putois. (43.916217, 3.735945)
Open:	closed. [2025]
Fee:	closed. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	L=800 m, VR=109 m, T=14 °C
Guided tours:	by appointment
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Jean-Frédéric Brun, Thierry Coste, Jean-Régis Temple (1983): Inventaire Spéléologique Du Massif Du Taurac (Hérault), online
Address:	Office du tourisme Cévennes Méditerranée, Avenue du Mont Aigoual, 34190 GANGES, Tel: +33-467-73-00-56. E-mail:
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

1864	archaeologists Boutin, Jeanjean and Cazalis de Fondouce discover the Avens Laurier and the Laroque caves no. 1 and 2 and excavate.
28-JUN-1889	E. A. Martel explores the Demoiselles Cave and publishes a detailed sketch in Abîmes.
1930	Robert de Joly publishes the exploration history of the caves in the area at the request of the Société d'Exploitation de la grotte des Demoiselles.
1931	Robert de Joly explores the Aven des Lauriers and the grotte de la Route.
1989	Claude Chantemesse and Patrick Martin, the owners of the cave, developed and opened it to tourists.
1991	show cave opened to the public.
01-JAN-1998	Société Touristique Aven Grotte des Lauriers creatend.
2001	cave closed.
17-JAN-2003	Société Touristique Aven Grotte des Lauriers liquidated.
2016	Aven des Lauriers closed by the municipality of Laroque for nature protection.

Description

The Grotte des Lauriers is located in the Gorges de l'Hérault, the gorge of the river Hérault. The cave was discovered and excavated by archaeologists Boutin, Jeanjean and Cazalis de Fondouce in 1862. E. A. Martel visited the area in 1889 but did not know about this cave, he explored the Grotte de Demoiselles. After he had published his results Jeanjean told him in a letter about the Grotte des Lauriers in 1892. When Martel and Armand returned in 1897 they explored several caves but not the Grotte des Lauriers. Robert de Joly republished all the explorations and recognized some new cavities in the Taurac Massif in 1930 at the request of the Société d'Exploitation de la grotte des Demoiselles. But actually the first exploration of the Aven des Lauriers took place in 1931. Visited and explored by numerous speleologists, four or five cave entrances with different names were found to be connected.

It was finally developed as a show cave by Claude Chantemesse and Patrick Martin, the owners of the cave. They used the Grotte du Lion which is the cave entrance which is located at the Chemin de la Draille. By removing the debris in a passage the cave was accessed more or less horizontal at the bottom of the entrance shaft. As the show cave is closed, it is difficult to get much info on the show cave, and the info collected on various websites is inconsistent. Some pages say it was open for only 2 years, others tell about 20 years. Some say it was closed after the death of the onwer, by we have no idea which one. The most likely version is that it was open from 1991 to 2001. In 1998 a limited company was created by the above-mentioned owners, which was liquidated in 2003, after the show cave had been closed. Quite definitely the show cave was short-lived, and it attracted only 12,000 visitors per year, probably a result of the nearby Showcave Grotte des Demoiselles which was far more famous. But the main economic problem was the lack of a car park, so the visitors had to be transported to the cave entrance from some distance with a shuttle. The cost of this shuttle made the cave unprofitable.

The Grotte du Lion entrance is located strategically at the Hérault river, which was the only way to reach the hinterland. That was probably a reason for the people to stop here. The cave was inhabited between 20,000 and 15,000 years BP, excavations revealed thousands of objects from this time. Later the cave was located at the single lane gravel road through the gorge called Chemin de la Draille. But the current road is the two lane D986 which was constructed below. The old road is not open, though it might be used for an easy walk to the cave both from the lower turnoff or from the upper. Nevertheless, we recommend the car park escalade Thaurac, which is right below the cave entrance. It is intended as a viewpoint of the river and the gorge, but there is also the trailhead of a steep trail to the cave entrance.

Today the location is mainly known among climbers. The cliffs around the cave entrance offer numerous routes. The cave itself is sometimes also known as L'Aven des Lauriers, because it has several vertical shafts. Around 2011 cave trekking tours were organized for groups by the nearby village Laroque which were more on the climbing side. They included the introduction into abseiling and single rope technique. So they were intended for people with some physical fitness, full caving gear including climbing gear was required. The entrance section is a crawl, followed by an abseil into a passage with numerous speleothems. The tours used the show cave part, there are still trails and rusty iron railings, but no electric light. But the entrance to the Lauriers system closed by the municipality of Laroque for nature protection. As far as we know the cave trekking tours were discontinued after a few years. The upper entrance to the Lauriers system, the Aven des Lauriers, was closed by the municipality of Laroque for nature protection in 2016.