Vallon-Pont-d'Arc

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a commune in the Ardèche department in southeastern France.

Sights

It features the Pont d'Arc, a limestone natural bridge carved out by the river Ardèche.

The castle has become the town hall and houses some priceless Aubusson tapestries.

The nearby Chauvet Cave, a network of caves discovered on 18 December 1994, contains cave paintings and engravings that are estimated to be 30,000 to 32,000 years old.

Geography

Originally the Vallon-Pont-d'Arc would have been part of a large rocky area, where the Ardeche river flowed around as a meander, after hundreds and thousands years of erosion the river broke through causing an arc. the river now flows through this arc, and has done for thousands of years.

See also

• Communes of the Ardèche department

References

• Based on the article in the French Wikipedia.