Saulges: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

The Saulges Cave Valley is home to 22 caves. It is considered an important prehistoric site for researching the first settlement of western France.

Those choosing Saulges as a holiday destination may perhaps want to rent a holiday apartment there.

Culture

The Grotte de la Chèvre is freely accessible. The Grotte Rochefort contains an archaeological excavation area providing evidence of the presence of Solutrean people around 22,000 years ago. It also contains an underground lake, which can be reached after descending ladders 15 metres long.

The Musée de Préhistoire in the Erve Valley has been open since 2017. It displays archaeological objects, bones and artistic evidence dating from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic and is fully equipped for visitors with reduced mobility.

The Grotte Mayenne-Sciences contains Gravettian drawings made with charcoal, dated to around 27,000 years ago. For reasons of nature conservation and accessibility, it is closed to the public. The Grotte Margot has been classified as a monument historique since 1926 and is the only visitable prehistoric decorated cave in western France and north of the Loire. The Grotte René-Paul offers a guided introduction to speleology lasting between one and three hours.

The churches also preserve remarkable evidence: Saint-Pierre Church displays medieval frescoes with religious scenes, as well as wooden, stone and terracotta figures from the 17th and 18th centuries. Notre-Dame is an 11th-century Romanesque church and preserves four altarpieces from different periods, including the Valtrot altarpiece from 1401. The Merovingian church in the town centre dates from the 8th century, is classified as a monument historique and is considered one of the oldest churches in France. A fully restored lime kiln is freely accessible.

An oratory has been a frequented pilgrimage site for several centuries. It stands at the site of a spring associated with the hermit Céneré; the spring is still present today.

Nature

The Erve Valley belongs to the Natura 2000 network and was designated a special protection area in 2012. Seventeen of the 18 bat species found in Mayenne have been recorded in the Saulges Cave Valley.

During a walk along the Erve, you can cross the river via picturesque stepping stones and continue along a footpath to the village.

Things to Do

The Saulges climbing area offers more than 160 routes on limestone cliffs ranging from 10 to 25 metres in height. Circuit de l’Oratoire No. 33 passes through Saulges and into a limestone canyon. It is an easy, 8.5-kilometre walk starting from Saulges.

Other destinations at a glance: Fougerolles-Du-Plessis, Lassay-les-Châteaux, Saint-Ellier-du-Maine, Montsûrs, Daon, Préaux, Placé, Neau.

To the main travel overview: Mayenne.