Lascaux IV (Lascaux Caves replica)

Lascaux IV, opened in December 2016 in Montignac-Lascaux in the Dordogne valley of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is the definitive international cave art centre dedicated to the Upper Palaeolithic masterpieces discovered in the original Lascaux cave in 1940. The original cave, which contains more than 600 painted and engraved figures of horses, aurochs, bison, deer, and felines executed around 17,000 BC, was closed to the public in 1963 after carbon dioxide and moisture from visitors caused irreversible fungal damage to the paintings. Lascaux IV presents the most technologically advanced replica ever created: a full-scale reproduction of the entire cave system, produced using a combination of digital scanning, 3D printing, and hand-applied pigments by specialist artists working over several years. The Centre International de l'Art Pariétal occupies a striking semi-buried building designed by Snøhetta and Duncan Lewis architects, with 8,500 square metres of exhibition space integrated into the hillside. Beyond the cave replica itself, permanent galleries explore the archaeological context of the Vézère valley—a UNESCO World Heritage site—and trace 500,000 years of human prehistory in the Périgord. An atelier allows visitors to observe conservation experts working on prehistoric artefacts behind glass. Interactive digital installations use augmented reality to animate the animals painted on the rock surfaces, while a chronological exhibition situates Lascaux within the broader tradition of Palaeolithic cave art across Europe and the world. The on-site museum holds genuine prehistoric tools and ochre fragments recovered from excavations around the original site. Lascaux IV draws over 400,000 visitors annually and is regarded as the flagship cultural attraction of the Dordogne.