Cascades de Gimel et rocher de Braguse

Gimel-les-Cascades

Over a few hundred metres, the Montane tumbles down three successive falls before vanishing into a pit of shadow that local people call the gouffre de l'Inferno. The painter and traveller Gaston Vuillier laid out between 1893 and 1899 the park that overlooks the gorges, and the site was listed as early as 1912, among the very first in France. Above the gorge, on a promontory ringed by the river, stand the ruins of the church of Saint-Étienne de Braguse, long the parish church of Gimel. Tradition traces its origin to a modest oratory raised by Saint Dumine, a soldier in the armies of Clovis who, back from Rome and Jerusalem, is said to have withdrawn to a narrow cave in the rock of Braguse. Two tales cling to the ruins: that of the bell of the belfry which fell into the chasm, almost hauled back up and then let go for ever by women who had come to lend a hand, and that of the ghosts said to haunt the cemetery desecrated at the Revolution — muffled laments and silhouettes at dusk. The village church, for its part, preserves the shrine of Saint Stephen of Muret, founder of the Order of Grandmont, a masterpiece of champlevé enamel of the late 12th century. The very name Inferno says plainly enough what the people of Corrèze long read into this roar of water at the bottom of a granite gorge.

Cascades de Gimel — Wikipédia ↗

Getting there : The Parc Vuillier is a private property in the heart of the village of Gimel-les-Cascades, 7 km north-east of Tulle: tickets at the village bar, then a laid-out path, about an hour's visit. The gouffre de l'Inferno and the ruins of Braguse can also be reached by freely accessible hiking paths, with a steep climb that is slippery in wet weather; walking shoes essential. Coordinates are given for the village and the park entrance, not for each fall.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound