Vallon-Pont-d'Arc

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Vallon-Pont-d'Arc]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Vallon-Pont-d'Arc}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Commune
Coat of arms
Location of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Vallon-Pont-d'Arc Show map of France Vallon-Pont-d'Arc Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 44°24′28″N 4°23′40″E / 44.4078°N 4.3944°E / 44.4078; 4.3944
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Ardèche
Arrondissement	Largentière
Canton	Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Guy Massot[1]
Area 1	28.62 km2 (11.05 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	2,443
• Density	85/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	07330 /07150
Elevation	60–434 m (197–1,424 ft) (avg. 118 m or 387 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (French pronunciation: [valɔ̃ pɔ̃ daʁk]; Occitan: Valon) is a village in southern France in the Ardèche Department.

The village is a gateway to one of the most beautiful tourist sites in France, the Ardèche Gorges, where the Ardèche river has carved a dramatic canyon through a limestone plateau. The village is named after the Pont d'Arc, a natural rock arch, which has been classified as a Great Site of France.

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is also the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the decorated cave of Pont d’Arc, known as Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc., and its replica, Chauvet Cave 2. The cave contains some of the earliest known prehistoric paintings in the world and constitutes an exceptional testimony of prehistoric cave art.

In the center of the town is a château built in the 17th century, now the town hall, which is decorated with Aubusson tapestries, as well as the place couverte or old grain square, and the place du Verger.

• The Pont d'Arc
• The Chauvet Cave is not open to the public. In 2015, a replica Chauvet Cave 2 was opened to the public, which is the largest decorated replica cavern in the world. Chauvet Cave 2 is also a conference center and hosts workshops and cultural activities relating to prehistoric art and civilization.
• The Gorges de l'Ardèche
• Departure point for the river descent by kayak or canoe of the Gorges de l'Ardèche (from Pont d'Arc to Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche).
• The Château or Hôtel de ville (a castle constructed in 1630-1639 under Louis XIII) houses seven Aubusson tapestries showing the crusades, exhibited in the Salle des Mariages.
• Chastelas outside the village
• Library
• Contemporary art gallery Galerie du Bourdaric
• Nearby, the art studio of Anselm Kiefer La Ribaute.
• Nearby, the Grotte de la Madeleine in Saint-Remèze
• Nearby, the contemporary art gallery in Lagorce Galerie Mirabilia
• Nearby, the Aven d'Orgnac

Nearby there are other beautiful villages, including Salavas, Saint-Montan, Labastide de Virac, Barjac, and Balazuc. For more information, see Gorges de l'Ardèche.

The town is peaceful and quiet in the winter, but extremely lively during the tourist season in the summer. There is a nocturnal market on Tuesday evenings and a market on Thursday mornings. Each spring takes place the Raid nature; in June, L'Ardéchoise, a cycling event, and the Alunna Festival; in August, the Documentary Film Festival in the nearby town of Lussas; and in November, the Marathon in the Gorges. For conferences relating to prehistoric art and civilization, see the calendar of Chauvet Cave 2.

Numerous caves in Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in Ardèche testify to the human presence in the area for over 30,000 years:

Caves that are registered as historical monuments include:

• • Grotte du Bouchon
  • Grotte de la Vacheresse
  • Chauvet Cave with its replica Chauvet Cave 2.

• Artist René Aberlenc (1920-1971)

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to the Köppen climate classification.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vallon-Pont-d'Arc.

• Communes of the Ardèche department