It was in France at the end of the 19th century that underground exploration developed, under the impetus of E.A. Martel and later R. Joly, which subsequently became modern speleology.

Over that time a number of the chambers discovered have been managed to make access easier for the public.

Today with more than a hundred natural caves made accessible, visited annually by nearly six million people, French underground tourism is the most developed in Europe.

It rivals the others two great countries with visitable caves – the U.S.A. and China. The A.N.E.C.A.T. is an association representing nearly 80% of the caves, caverns, potholes and underground rivers in France, 25% of which are prehistoric sites.

The richness and diversity of this underground heritage form a genuine eco-museum, an inexhaustible “library” on the geological and biological past and the human colonisation of our planet.

This site invites you to explore all these marvels hidden beneath the regions of France.
They have all been opened to the public in a way that protects and preserves this exceptional heritage.