Lascaux IV
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Lascaux IV

Lascaux IV

Full-scale replica of the Lascaux cave paintings, 25 km north of Sarlat

The original Lascaux cave, near Montignac in the Vézère Valley, contains some of the most extraordinary Palaeolithic paintings in the world — 17,000-year-old images of bulls, horses, aurochs, and deer covering every surface in vivid ochre and manganese black. It has been closed to the public since 1963 to protect the paintings from the damage caused by visitor breath and light.

Lascaux IV, which opened in 2016 in Montignac (about 25 km north of Sarlat), is a full-scale replica of the entire cave system built using digital scanning and reconstruction. It is significantly better than the earlier Lascaux II replica — you see the whole cave, not a selection, and the interpretation is modern and thorough. The site also includes a museum of Palaeolithic art and a digital lab.

It takes most of a half-day to do properly. Book tickets in advance in summer.

museum sight
A story
The original Lascaux cave was discovered in 1940 by four teenagers following a dog that had fallen into a hole in the hillside. The paintings inside — 17,000 years old, covering every surface with bulls, horses, deer, and rhinoceros — were so overwhelming that Picasso reportedly said on leaving: "We have invented nothing." The cave was opened to the public in 1948 and had to be closed in 1963 when the breath and body heat of 1,200 daily visitors began destroying the paintings.