19 and 20 September

Conditions

Price: 11€ per adult from 18 years old, 8€ for 5-17 years old. Reservation required. Limited number of seats.

Registration

contact@phosphatieres.com 0565200672 Register / book: https://phosphatieres.com/horaires-tarifs-et-reservation/

September 2026

Saturday 19
- 14:30 - 15:30
- 16:00 - 17:00
Sunday 20
- 10:30 - 11:30
- 13:45 - 14:45
- 15:00 - 16:00
- 16:15 - 17:15

Phosphatières du Cloup d'Aural

1546 Route des Phosphatières, 46230 Bach, France

Lot

Occitanie

Guided tour of the Cloup d'Aural phosphatiers, a geological heritage of global interest

Name: Guided tour of the Cloup d'Aural phosphatiers, a geological heritage of global interest
Start: 2026-09-19T14:30:00+02:00
End: 2026-09-20T17:15:00+02:00
Location: Phosphatières du Cloup d'Aural

Phosphate mines of the 19th century: open-air caves with specific vegetation. Vertebrate fossils trace the evolution of life and landscapes over 30 million years.

19 and 20 September

Conditions

Price: 11€ per adult from 18 years old, 8€ for 5-17 years old. Reservation required. Limited number of seats.

Registration

contact@phosphatieres.com 0565200672 Register / book: https://phosphatieres.com/horaires-tarifs-et-reservation/

©C. Bouthé - Vent d'Autan

Phosphate mines of the 19th century
Discover open-air caves, where a specific vegetation flourishes. Vertebrate fossils found on site trace the evolution of life and landscapes over 30 million years.
In Quercy, more than 300 phosphatiers were exploited and then abandoned in the 19th century. Since then, the fossils discovered at these sites have been the subject of research conducted by various paleontology laboratories.
More than 200 paleontological sites allow us to trace more than 30 million years of evolution of animals and climates.
The site of the phosphatiers at Cloup d'Aural is the only one accessible to the public. It is located in the UNESCO Global Geopark of the Causses du Quercy and in the National Nature Reserve of the Lot, the largest geological reserve in France.

September 2026

Saturday 19
- 14:30 - 15:30
- 16:00 - 17:00
Sunday 20
- 10:30 - 11:30
- 13:45 - 14:45
- 15:00 - 16:00
- 16:15 - 17:15

Additionnal information

Types d'événement

Visite commentée

Thèmes 2026

No selection

Spécificités

No selection

Je déclare avoir les droits pour diffuser ce visuel et consent à sa diffusion par des tiers sur tout support, conformément aux CGU

Conditions de participation

Tarif préférentiel, Réservation obligatoire

Type de public

Tout public

About the location

Phosphatières du Cloup d'Aural

1546 Route des Phosphatières, 46230 Bach, France

Lot

Occitanie

In the last thirty years of the 19th century, the exploitation of phosphate naturally stored as an apatite in the paleokarst quercynois became famous under the name "phosphorite of Quercy". This international reputation is due to the presence of numerous vertebrate fossils living in the Tertiary era, between the end of the Eocene and the end of the Oligocene (15 million years ago), which, for some of them, served as an international reference for the standard sequence of European faunas. The phosphatier of the Cloup d'Aural, located at the center of a network of phosphate pockets in the Causse de Limogne, benefits from a state of conservation that allows reconstructing the logic of exploitation of these sediments. Large in size (170 m. long for a depth of about twenty meters), it presents a significant diversity of operating witnesses and external frames in fairly good condition.

Conditions

Registration

September 2026

Geführte Besichtigung der Phosphatanlagen von Cloup d'Aural, einem geologischen Erbe von weltweitem Interesse

Conditions

Registration

Guided tour of the Cloup d'Aural phosphatiers, a geological heritage of global interest

Conditions

Registration

Visita guidata delle fosfatiere del Cloup d'Aural, patrimonio geologico di interesse mondiale

Conditions

Registration

Visite guidée des phosphatières du Cloup d'Aural, patrimoine géologique d'intérêt mondial

Conditions

Registration

Visita guiada de los fosfáticos del Cloup d'Aural, patrimonio geológico de interés mundial

Conditions

Registration

September 2026