Padirac Cave
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The Padirac Chasm (French: Gouffre de Padirac) is a cave located near Gramat, in the Lot department, Occitanie region, France.
Features
The chasm itself is Script error: No such module "convert". deep, with a diameter of approximately Script error: No such module "convert".. Visitors descend Template:Cvt via a lift or a staircase before entering into the cave system. The cave contains a subterranean river system that is partly negotiable by boat, and it is regarded as "one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena of the Massif Central".[1] The Padirac river continues underground for about Template:Cvt until it flows into the Dordogne at the Montvalent Cirque.[2]
Formation
The chasm was created at an undetermined point in time when the roof collapsed into a large internal cavern. It is known that the cavern existed in the 3rd century, and was inhabited during the 15th and 16th centuries, when potassium nitrate was excavated from the area.
Tourism
The first tourists visited the cave on 1 November 1898; however, the site was officially opened for tourism on 10 April 1899 by Georges Leygues, the 87th Prime Minister of France (then called président du conseil). Today, although the chasm system is made up of more than Script error: No such module "convert". of galleries, only Script error: No such module "convert". have been opened for tourism.
Since the 1930s, visitors can access the cave system by descending Script error: No such module "convert". by lift or stairs, and then exploring the chasm system on foot and by boat.
Padirac is the most frequently visited underground tourism facility in France, with more than 350,000 visitors annually, and a record of 460,000 in 1991.
Exploration
The chasm was first explored, in 1889, by Édouard-Alfred Martel. Much of the credit for opening the cave system is owed to Template:Ill (1903–1986), who came to Padirac in 1938 and managed to penetrate Script error: No such module "convert". of the passages.
References
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External links
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