The Gouffre Geant, just outside the village of Cabrespine, is not well known outside of France because it wasn’t discovered until 1968 and not opened to the public before 1988. Most visitors now enter the cavern through a short tunnel bored like a mine shaft into the side of the mountain and view the giant chamber from a concrete balcony near the top. The illuminated walls are breathtaking but the view is limited to what can be seen from what amounts to a long verandah. Local residents had known for centuries that several caves in the area were connected because animals straying into one might sometimes be recovered from a second. Shepherds who found warm air issuing from various fissures on the surface were convinced that the whole mountain was hollow.
In fact, they were not far wrong. The Montagne Noire, like many other parts of France’s Massif Central, are riddled with caves. Less than five miles from the Gouffre Geant is the Grotte de Limousis with its magnificent "Chandelier," a formation of crystals more than 30 feet in circumference.
One nearby village, Caunes-Minervois, derives the first part of the name from a corruption of the Latin cavus. But it was not until 1961, when researchers poured dye into the Clamoux river and it flowed out of the Orbiel river 10 miles to the west that speleologists began to appreciate the possible dimensions of the cave. Seven more years passed before the chamber now known as the Gouffre Geant was discovered. This mammoth hole was created about 400 million years ago as an underground branch of the Clamoux river began washing away softer materials and coating the walls of the resulting hollow with deposits of iron-rich calcium. These minerals , drying and oxidizing over the centuries, form the spectacular displays of yellow, white and red and rust and brown. Unlike France’s more famous cave at Lascaux, where the attraction is prehistoric man’s delicate artwork, the Gouffre Geant’s beauty is the product of natural forces. Prehistoric remains of pottery and tools have been found in parts of the cave network, but no manmade masterpieces. The stalactites and stalagmites are not only the icicle-shape commonly associated with limestone caves. Massive, rounded flows looking like a mushroom three or four yards in diameter rest beside delicate, lacy shapes or blunt knobs a couple of inches in diameter and a foot or two long.
Practical Information: The hike is offered on demand throughout the year. It costs roughly EUR40 per person with a minimum four people. However, for individuals or couples, there is the possibility of joining an already scheduled group. Telephone (in France) 67-66-11-11 to make arrangements.
Location: The Gouffre Geant is on highway D112 just outside the village of Cabrespine, about 15 miles northeast of Carcassonne. Toulouse, about 70 miles away, is the nearest international airport.
Food and Lodging: Carcassonne, which boasts the largest walled city in Europe, has numerous hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. The village of Villeneuve, at the mouth of the canyon about six miles from the Gouffre Geant, has two hotels and three restaurants, all moderately priced with menus beginning at EUR13.
