Cave of the whashing ladies

There are several caves opening along the river Tiretaine, formed by volcanic eruptions, including the “grotte des laveuses” (cave of the washing ladies). Some of them had some very unusual uses.

The Tiretaine valley in Royat has inspired many artists whose paintings are displayed in the Roger-Quilliot art museum in Clermont-Ferrand. Painters often chose to depict the river, the mills along it and the Église Saint-Léger overlooking it (Charles Théodore Sauvageot, Léon Fleury, Paul Huet, Théodore Rousseau).

Charles Taylor and Justin Nodier, in the volume devoted to Auvergne in their book “Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l’ancienne France” (1829), depict the Grotte des Laveuses (cave of the washing ladies) under the priory of the Église Saint-Léger. It formed in the basaltic lava flow coming from the Petit-Puy-de-Dôme during eruptions in the Quaternary period. A blister of steam formed under the flow and was trapped after the lava cooled. The Tiretraine river bed was carved out, thus forming the cave. The cave is 30 metres long, 10 metres wide and 3.5 metres high. Seven springs flow from there. The cave appears to have been certified “national heritage” in 1949 at the request of the municipality. It still houses the remains of a washing basin.

Other caves open along the Tiretaine, including the neighbouring Siméoni cave. It houses the spring that supplied the famous Amboise fountain in Clermont thanks to the work performed by the 16th century Florentine engineer Gabriel Siméoni. The famous Grotte du Chien (dog’s cave), located close to the railway viaduct, is known for its carbon gas emanations and mofettes. Odourless CO2, lighter than air, occupied the lower part of the cave and thus caused dogs to be asphyxiated, as explained by the guides to their visitors. The poor animal would then be replaced by a candle. The cave is now closed to the public.