YMAGIERS CAVE SYSTEM

REVERIE GARDOISE

Who are the Ymagiers?

The imagers (in the middle Ages, ymagiers) were craftsmen who embellished the cathedrals with images;

stonecutters, sculptors, painters and glassmakers.

In the end, only the sculptors had the right to keep this honorific title.
These sculptors created the most refined and monumental decorations.
Drawing on both the imagination and the most acute observation of nature, the imagers of the Middle Ages recounted

the vices and virtues of men, symbolising the mysteries of life and death, of heaven and hell.
Thanks to them, stone came to life, light became color, leaves and flowers decorated walls and vaults.
This sumptuous underground network is dedicated to these anonymous artists, who seemed to have inspired nature itself

to illuminate and transform an austere and mineral mass into lace and arabesques far more complicated and bizarre

than the richest imagination ...
We are delighted that the Ymagiers now also have their "underground cathedral" ...

History

Once upon a time, somewhere in the Gard ... A blowhole ...
This is the place we've walked past so often, each time asking ourselves
what could be hidden down there, at the bottom ...
But hey, we had other projects and this blowhole fell into oblivion.
But, as it kept on thinking in our heads, we decided to take the bull by the horns!
And, after long clearing work, the narrow passages changed into an unexpected discovery !
A universe of such rare beauty, so elegant that we can't believe our eyes

and where every stap leads to new miracles ...

Enjoy your journey in this extraordinary garden populated by magical creatures ...
Where dreams become reality and reality becomes a dream ...

CHANDELIER BALLROOM

This rectangular chamber of 25 by 8 meters has a sumptuous

4 meters high vault.
It is located in the deepest parts of the cave and contains

the largest amount of crystals.
Splendid calcite chandeliers sparkle from the ceiling.
In a corner, we are looking at the longest poolfingers of the cave, about 1.50 meters long.

CRUNCHY ROOM

This chamber, located in a hard to find part of the network, has a floor made of a mille-feuille (layer-cake) of thin calcite flakes

that makes a cracking sound when touched.
From the very first moment, we fell in love for its beauty !

This real "little Lechuguilla" is entirely dressed in crystals and helictites of a shiny milky-white color.
Our eyes were hypnotized ...

TRIDENT GALLERY

This beautiful gallery of triangular section is decorated with a

triple stalactite in the shape of a trident and its walls are covered

with heavy curtains of a great variety of colors.
At the end of a diverticulum of this gallery was discovered
the "Bénitier aux Etoiles", an exceptional geode with

large yellow star-shaped crystals.

THE AMAZONICAS

This large chamber of 50 by 20 meters is, with its height of 11 meters the largest and highest in the cave (over 9,500 m³). A rimstone pool of 12 by 8 meters occupies the upper part of the chamber.

In the middle of this pool stand proudly the largest calcitecups

of the cave, wonders mesuring more than one meter in diameter.
These cups are like the floating leaves

of the giant Victoria Amazonica water lily.

THE SHRINE

The shrine lives up to its name, it is the most unimaginable concentration of wonders that we have ever seen !
In the middle, an "explosion" of helictites takes the form of a fairy tale tree; we called it the "l'Olivier". This is the icing on the cake !
As soon as it is discovered, this sector is visited only after

changing the caving suits and with just socks on the feet...

WATER LILY ROOM

Stone flowers with delicate foliage, as thin as porcelain

and chiselled like lace, decorate the rimstone pools of this volume,

one of the largest in the cave (60 by 30 meters).

A lateral corridor of this chamber is the setting for the "Teeth of the Earth", a deep pool surrounded by enormous yellow crystals.
This part of the cave was discovered after long sessions

of disobstruction work.

TRIANGLES ROOM

Both hollow and solid triangles are beautiful,

but extremely rare crystal structures.
This chamber is an exception with its surface of more than 100 m² completely covered with hollow triangles.
Some of them, unique fact, are grouped in a cloverleaf shape.
In the middle of this volume, a gaping hole allows a glimpse

of a water basin, giving the chamber a double bottom.
This basin has almost the same dimensions as the volume above.

THE SENTINEL AND THE DROPS OF Ô

The sentry, a stalagmite in the shape of a candle, acts as a

solitary guardian in the middle of this volume.
A large fault mirror is visible on the right-hand side with several

shafts wich are being explored and on the left-hand side lies a second chamber that reveals the "Ô-drops", splash cups with the appearance of petrified water drops, called conulites.
Helectites of unequalled finesse are omnipresent.

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