Balmes de Montbrun

Around thirty caves, some of which have two levels, have been carved into the cliffs at various heights.
Access to this unique site is free.
An explanatory sign (in French and English) is located at the entrance to the site, near the small parking area.
Traces of the modifications made to these caves are still visible: beam and staircase anchors, niches, skylights, gutters, grooves, and benches.

A path, still partially paved in places, served this village, founded around 1210.
It had a chapel (Saint Catherine's Chapel, which is still maintained), located north of the castle and also partly carved into the rock.

This medieval village had some fifty dwellings carved into the cliff of the crater of this extinct volcano; half of these dwellings are still visible and can be explored!

The last inhabitants lived in the village around 1880—a hermit and a poor family, in a sheltered alcove on the southeast side of the cliff.

The site has been inhabited for millennia; an oppidum (fortified settlement) existed across the valley, in Cheylard, in the 5th century.