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A visit to la Roque St Christophe takes you back 50,000 years to the Neanderthals when men dwelled in cave shelters high in the limestone cliffs. Later during medieval times it was turned into a troglodyte town and fort. The caves were occupied by Cro Magnon man and remained occupied until as late as the Renaissance period. The site is a short drive from the UNESCO Lascaux cave paintings (17000 BC) which were discovered accidentally by teenagers in 1940 and continue to lure tourists to the area.
Panorama La Roque Saint-Christophe and Vézère, Dordogne, France.
The Roque Saint-Christophe is a large rock formation and archaeological site with rock shelters (abris sous-roche in French) at the river Vézère, near Peyzac-la-Moustier in the Dordogne in Aquitania, France.
The Dordogne, and the Vézère valley in particular, have been shaped by man for thousands of years.
The prehistoric men left traces are visible in this white cliff, La Roque Saint-Christophe.
The limestone cliff is a kilometre long and 80 metres high. Eroded by the river Vézère and frost over thousands of years, around a hundred rock shelters have been carved out of its aerial terraces.
These natural caves have been occupied by man since prehistoric times, then developed into a fort and a troglodytic city from the Middle Ages to the early Renaissance.
It's hard to capture the full size of this abri, the site in this view streches even more to the left.
Photo: Prehistoric "abris sous roche" - by © Richard Poppelaars #About_Pixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #limestone #cliff #dwelling - #abri #prehistory #UNESCO / #History at #LaRoqueStChristophe #RoqueSaintChristophe in #PeyzacleMoustier, #Dordogne - #France
La Roque Saint-Christophe (Abri) (Settlements, Neolithic period 55000BP- destruction 1588), photo August 2013 after 57013 years.
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Peyzac-le-Moustier: Roque Saint Christophe - History
La Roque Saint-Christophe (one of the 147 exceptional prehistoric UNESCO sites since 1979) is a large limestone rock with rock dwellings (abris sous-roche in French) along the river Vézère near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne region. The cliff is one kilometer long and towers over the road below and the river Vézère at about a hundred meters. The rock has five terraces that were created on the one hand by the erosion of the river water 60 million years ago and on the other hand by the action of frost on the limestone during the ice ages of the Quaternary era.
The earliest dating is the Moustérien period, the caves, dating from the Middle Paleolithic era, were first inhabited as a shelter in the Neolithic period. There are traces that people already lived here 55,000 years ago and a skeleton of a Neanderthal of about 40,000 years old has been discovered. People also lived there in the Iron Age, remains such as tools and an engraving of a Madonna from the Gallo-Roman era from the first century AD. In 976 it became a fortress to protect against the Normans. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the fortress served as a fortress against the English. In the sixteenth century, the city and the fortress were occupied by the Protestant Huguenots. Finally in 1588, the Catholic French King Henry III ordered expulsion and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications.
Nowadays, reconstructions show what life must have been like in the fortress, such as the medieval construction site, forge, drum winch (a kind of winch), quarry, armory and a kitchen from the year 1000 of the fortress.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Saint-Christophe.
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Published at - Flickr
One era in the history of La Roque St-Christophe - a sentry.
the first inhabitants were probably Neanderthal hunter-gatherers, in 50,000BC.
La Roque St Christophe (près de la ville Les Eyzies-de-Tayac) est un abri rocheux naturel long de 300 mètres. C'est l'un des plus grands sites troglodytiques d'Europe. Elle est haute de plus de 1000 mètres et est constituée de 5 terrasses naturelles. Habité d'abord par les hommes de Cro-Magnon, le site fut de nouveau occupé à partir du Xème siècle. Place prostestante, La Roque St Christophe fut détruite sur ordre d'Henri III en 1588.
La Roque St. Christophe reconstructed.
Photo: Richard Poppelaars © #AboutPixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #replica #model - #RoqueSaintChristophe #abri / #Architecture at #LaRoqueStChristophe #RoqueSaintChristophe in #PeyzacleMoustier, #Dordogne - #France
A nice model how La Roque St. Christophe looked like at a unknown time before expulsion of all inhabitants and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications by the Catholic French King Henry III. Like always, it's hard to find his reason to order this. Maybe because it's somewhere under a catholic carpet among many other religious events..
Note: this model was very dusty, faded colors and a low light location. It would be nice to see a much better presentation.
Photo August 2013, La Roque Saint-Christophe (Abri) (Settlements, Neolithic period 55000BP- destruction 1588) after 57013 years in time.
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Roque Saint Christophe - La Roque Saint-Christophe (one of the 147 exceptional prehistoric UNESCO sites since 1979) is a large limestone rock with rock dwellings (abris sous-roche in French) along the river Vézère near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne region. The cliff is one kilometer long and towers over the road below and the river Vézère at about a hundred meters. The rock has five terraces that were created on the one hand by the erosion of the river water 60 million years ago and on the other hand by the action of frost on the limestone during the ice ages of the Quaternary era.
The earliest dating is the Moustérien period, the caves, dating from the Middle Paleolithic era, were first inhabited as a shelter in the Neolithic period. There are traces that people already lived here 55,000 years ago and a skeleton of a Neanderthal of about 40,000 years old has been discovered. People also lived there in the Iron Age, remains such as tools and an engraving of a Madonna from the Gallo-Roman era from the first century AD. In 976 it became a fortress to protect against the Normans. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the fortress served as a fortress against the English. In the sixteenth century, the city and the fortress were occupied by the Protestant Huguenots. Finally in 1588, the Catholic French King Henry III ordered expulsion and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications.
Nowadays, reconstructions show what life must have been like in the fortress, such as the medieval construction site, forge, drum winch (a kind of winch), quarry, armory and a kitchen from the year 1000 of the fortress.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Saint-Christophe.
Published at - Flickr
The great staircase is one of the alrgest monolithic staircases in Europe. It has 32 steps hewn out of the rock face and leads to the fifth terrace, where projectile engines were discovered. We weren't allowed up.
:-(
The rectangular holes in the floor were made by the extraction of stone for building materials. This area is over 300 yards long.
...for animals brought inside in times of conflict. The stone rings were cut from the rock using a large gimlet.
Carved stone stairs to cave.
Photo: Richard Poppelaars © #AboutPixels #Photography (Canon PowerShot G2) / #cave #stairs - #RoqueSaintChristophe #abri / #History at #LaRoqueStChristophe #RoqueSaintChristophe in #PeyzacleMoustier, #Dordogne - #France
From a prehistoric time where things were done at the speed of one single step a day. Well, it's still there after so many ages.
Photo August 2002, La Roque Saint-Christophe (Abri) (Settlements, Neolithic period 55000BP- destruction 1588) after 57002 years in time.
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Roque Saint Christophe - La Roque Saint-Christophe (one of the 147 exceptional prehistoric UNESCO sites since 1979) is a large limestone rock with rock dwellings (abris sous-roche in French) along the river Vézère near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne region. The cliff is one kilometer long and towers over the road below and the river Vézère at about a hundred meters. The rock has five terraces that were created on the one hand by the erosion of the river water 60 million years ago and on the other hand by the action of frost on the limestone during the ice ages of the Quaternary era.
The earliest dating is the Moustérien period, the caves, dating from the Middle Paleolithic era, were first inhabited as a shelter in the Neolithic period. There are traces that people already lived here 55,000 years ago and a skeleton of a Neanderthal of about 40,000 years old has been discovered. People also lived there in the Iron Age, remains such as tools and an engraving of a Madonna from the Gallo-Roman era from the first century AD. In 976 it became a fortress to protect against the Normans. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the fortress served as a fortress against the English. In the sixteenth century, the city and the fortress were occupied by the Protestant Huguenots. Finally in 1588, the Catholic French King Henry III ordered expulsion and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications.
Nowadays, reconstructions show what life must have been like in the fortress, such as the medieval construction site, forge, drum winch (a kind of winch), quarry, armory and a kitchen from the year 1000 of the fortress.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Saint-Christophe.
Published at - Flickr
La Roque St. Christophe reconstructed.
Photo: Richard Poppelaars © #AboutPixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #replica #model - #RoqueSaintChristophe #abri / #Architecture at #LaRoqueStChristophe #RoqueSaintChristophe in #PeyzacleMoustier, #Dordogne - #France
A nice model how La Roque St. Christophe looked like at a unknown time before expulsion of all inhabitants and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications by the Catholic French King Henry III. Like always, it's hard to find his reason to order this. Maybe because it's somewhere under a catholic carpet among many other religious events..
Note: this model was very dusty, faded colors and a low light location. It would be nice to see a much better presentation.
Photo August 2013, La Roque Saint-Christophe (Abri) (Settlements, Neolithic period 55000BP- destruction 1588) after 57013 years in time.
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Roque Saint Christophe - La Roque Saint-Christophe (one of the 147 exceptional prehistoric UNESCO sites since 1979) is a large limestone rock with rock dwellings (abris sous-roche in French) along the river Vézère near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne region. The cliff is one kilometer long and towers over the road below and the river Vézère at about a hundred meters. The rock has five terraces that were created on the one hand by the erosion of the river water 60 million years ago and on the other hand by the action of frost on the limestone during the ice ages of the Quaternary era.
The earliest dating is the Moustérien period, the caves, dating from the Middle Paleolithic era, were first inhabited as a shelter in the Neolithic period. There are traces that people already lived here 55,000 years ago and a skeleton of a Neanderthal of about 40,000 years old has been discovered. People also lived there in the Iron Age, remains such as tools and an engraving of a Madonna from the Gallo-Roman era from the first century AD. In 976 it became a fortress to protect against the Normans. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the fortress served as a fortress against the English. In the sixteenth century, the city and the fortress were occupied by the Protestant Huguenots. Finally in 1588, the Catholic French King Henry III ordered expulsion and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications.
Nowadays, reconstructions show what life must have been like in the fortress, such as the medieval construction site, forge, drum winch (a kind of winch), quarry, armory and a kitchen from the year 1000 of the fortress.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Saint-Christophe.
Published at - Flickr
As always - food on the table.
Photo: Richard Poppelaars © #AboutPixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #food #kitchen #diningtable - #RoqueSaintChristophe #abri at #LaRoqueStChristophe #RoqueSaintChristophe in #PeyzacleMoustier, #Dordogne - #France
We only chnaged the way we eat but we always were busy getting something to eat.
Photo August 2013, La Roque Saint-Christophe (Abri) (Settlements, Neolithic period 55000BP- destruction 1588) after 57013 years in time.
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Roque Saint Christophe - La Roque Saint-Christophe (one of the 147 exceptional prehistoric UNESCO sites since 1979) is a large limestone rock with rock dwellings (abris sous-roche in French) along the river Vézère near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne region. The cliff is one kilometer long and towers over the road below and the river Vézère at about a hundred meters. The rock has five terraces that were created on the one hand by the erosion of the river water 60 million years ago and on the other hand by the action of frost on the limestone during the ice ages of the Quaternary era.
The earliest dating is the Moustérien period, the caves, dating from the Middle Paleolithic era, were first inhabited as a shelter in the Neolithic period. There are traces that people already lived here 55,000 years ago and a skeleton of a Neanderthal of about 40,000 years old has been discovered. People also lived there in the Iron Age, remains such as tools and an engraving of a Madonna from the Gallo-Roman era from the first century AD. In 976 it became a fortress to protect against the Normans. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the fortress served as a fortress against the English. In the sixteenth century, the city and the fortress were occupied by the Protestant Huguenots. Finally in 1588, the Catholic French King Henry III ordered expulsion and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications.
Nowadays, reconstructions show what life must have been like in the fortress, such as the medieval construction site, forge, drum winch (a kind of winch), quarry, armory and a kitchen from the year 1000 of the fortress.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Saint-Christophe.
Published at - Flickr
Drum winch at medieval construction site.
Photo: Richard Poppelaars © #AboutPixels #Photography (Nikon D90) / #replica #crane - #abri #prehistory #UNESCO / #History at #LaRoqueStChristophe #RoqueSaintChristophe in #PeyzacleMoustier, #Dordogne - #France
Some of these replica drum winches (a kind of winch) show exaclty how many things had to be lifted all the way up the cliff. An ingenious construction and strong enough to lift heavy loads like carved building blocks from the quarry nearby.
Photo August 2013, La Roque Saint-Christophe (Abri) (Settlements, Neolithic period 55000BP- destruction 1588) after 57013 years in time.
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Roque Saint Christophe - La Roque Saint-Christophe (one of the 147 exceptional prehistoric UNESCO sites since 1979) is a large limestone rock with rock dwellings (abris sous-roche in French) along the river Vézère near Peyzac-le-Moustier in the Dordogne region. The cliff is one kilometer long and towers over the road below and the river Vézère at about a hundred meters. The rock has five terraces that were created on the one hand by the erosion of the river water 60 million years ago and on the other hand by the action of frost on the limestone during the ice ages of the Quaternary era.
The earliest dating is the Moustérien period, the caves, dating from the Middle Paleolithic era, were first inhabited as a shelter in the Neolithic period. There are traces that people already lived here 55,000 years ago and a skeleton of a Neanderthal of about 40,000 years old has been discovered. People also lived there in the Iron Age, remains such as tools and an engraving of a Madonna from the Gallo-Roman era from the first century AD. In 976 it became a fortress to protect against the Normans. During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) the fortress served as a fortress against the English. In the sixteenth century, the city and the fortress were occupied by the Protestant Huguenots. Finally in 1588, the Catholic French King Henry III ordered expulsion and the complete destruction of the structures and the fortifications.
Nowadays, reconstructions show what life must have been like in the fortress, such as the medieval construction site, forge, drum winch (a kind of winch), quarry, armory and a kitchen from the year 1000 of the fortress.
Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Saint-Christophe.
Published at - Flickr