The Park’s territory boasts several unique natural sites, which
are mostly due to the geographical distinctiveness of its
various sectors. Among them are the Tarn and Jonte gorges; the
caves (Aven Armand, Dargilan and Bramabiau); the felsenmeer or
block fields, such as Nîmes-le-Vieux and Païolive Wood; and Les
Bondons with its characteristic puechs (hills). Towards the end
of the Palaeozoic era, the Causses were covered by water. The
sea withdrew at the end of the Jurassic. This phenomenon,
combined with the raising of the Pyrenees and Alps, caused
immense geological faults to appear, which then were deepened
further by the various waterways: Tarn, Jonte, Doubie and Lot.
Swallow holes, caves and gorges formed. The exceptional Jonte
and Tarn gorges are symbolic of these landscapes. Since the end
of the 19th century, three exceptional underground spaces
discovered by Edouard-Alfred Martel, the father of French cave
exploration, have been counted among the country’s great natural
sites. With his second-in-comman