The mountainous area of Auvergne has lengthy been one of the crucial missed locations in France. Located between Dordogne and Lyon, it boasts a number of the most majestic pure points of interest on this planet, amongst that are the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Chaîne des Puys volcanoes, the traditional thermal springs of Mont-Dore, and bucolic Limagne — a rolling expanse of fields and pastures that has drawn comparisons with Tuscany.
Arguably Auvergne’s least-known treasure is Lake Pavin – a crater lake situated only a few minutes west of Besse, a medieval city within the highlands of the Puy-de-Dôme division. Created 1000’s of years in the past from violent clashes of groundwater and lava, Pavin is the area’s deepest and most alluring lake. Its shimmering crystal waters – calm and welcoming – are paying homage to the Mediterranean alongside the calanques of Marseille. Fringed with spruce, pine, and beech bushes, Pavin additionally options intensive mountain climbing trails and quite a few picnic areas.
A Haunted Spot
However seems may be deceiving. Pavin is not any abnormal lake. Its unusual historical past – filled with hair-raising legends about infernal beings and Biblical-style cataclysms – reads like a Lovecraftian mythos. Some claimed that aquatic demons swam beneath its floor, boiling the water when irked. Others stated that Pavin’s silent waves hid the ruins of a metropolis – flooded for its sins. Above all, the native consensus was that the lake was guarded by none apart from the Satan himself. Hauntingly stunning, it was additionally terrifyingly haunted.
A few of these tales — broadly circulated for hundreds of years — date again to the Center Ages. In these days, it was stated that anybody who forged a stone into Pavin’s “fathomless” depths would instantly summon up a thundering hailstorm. Louis Batissier, a nineteenth-century Auvergnat historian and archaeologist, summed up the assumption as follows:
It was stated that for those who threw a stone into the lake throughout calm, serene climate, the water could be stirred up, and a thick, electrically-charged vapour would rise to its floor; it could condense into darkish clouds, and shortly you’ll witness a horrible storm. The sky is ablaze; thunder rumbles furiously, and rain and hail desolate the countryside.
Fascinatingly, latest research have proven that the origins of this legend could lie in Pavin’s distinctive biochemistry. For instance, within the Nineteen Eighties, localised earthquakes or mudslides prompted the carbon-dioxide wealthy Cameroonian lakes Nyos and Monoun to “explode”. Nyos not solely emitted a poisonous cloud that killed over 1,500 folks, however it additionally generated quite a lot of weird phenomena, comparable to lightning, thunder, and a excessive geyser-like column of water.
Like each African “killer lakes” (as they’re popularly referred to as), Pavin additionally incorporates an overabundance of carbon dioxide and methane, chemical compounds that – when disturbed – may cause explosions of fuel above the floor. Is it doable that Pavin additionally erupted up to now? Might the reminiscence of this disaster (or catastrophes) have influenced regional folklore? The reply, unusual as it could sound, is a powerful sure, based on College of Paris emeritus professor of geology Michel Meybeck.
“Pavin is a lake of an distinctive nature, and that is linked to its location in a volcanic area that’s at all times emitting gases of magmatic origin,” Meybeck informed me. “Its deep waters retailer these gases, however they sometimes escape.” Meybeck contends that the newest of those very uncommon “limnic eruptions” (unknown to science till 1986) occurred at Pavin in August 1785. “This was when a column of swirling gaseous water rose for 2 hours amidst lightning and thunder,” he added. “Nonetheless, for those who contemplate each the geographical data and the quite a few legendary tales concerning the lake, this form of occasion has occurred a number of occasions over the past 2000 years.”
For probably the most half, Pavin’s thrilling historical past is very similar to the fabled sunken metropolis that sleeps on the lake backside: invisible to all however these curiosity-driven deep divers. Those that do discover themselves in Auvergne mustn’t make the error of skipping this mysterious lake – particularly if they’ve a style for, because the American littérateur Washington Irving put it: “haunted spots and twilight superstitions.”
Andrew Manns (PhD) is a historian and the director of Go to Auvergne (visitauvergne.org), a challenge that seeks to advertise the varied cultural heritage of Auvergne to worldwide audiences. He additionally runs Hidden Clermont-Ferrand Excursions – an English strolling tour that explores the little-known legends and histories of Auvergne’s capital metropolis.
