Rock of Vergisson (Roche de Vergisson)

What you will see

A path on the gentler side of the rock leads to the top. From there the view takes in the village of Vergisson below, wrapped in vineyards, the Roche de Solutré opposite and the Beaujolais hills in the distance. The upper slopes are covered with dry limestone grassland, rich in rare plants. Near the hamlet of Les Chancerons, a two-metre menhir stands with a fine view of the rock. The waymarked loop Les confidences de la Roche de Vergisson, rated easy, covers 3 kilometres with 140 metres of climbing in about an hour and a half, from the Roche de Vergisson car park past the north face to the summit and back along the cliff. From the top the view also takes in the Saône plain. The rock has about 120 climbing routes, more and longer than at Solutré, though some close in spring so that nesting kestrels are not disturbed, and in winter the wallcreeper takes up quarters on the cliff. The poet Lamartine called these rocks petrified ships in a sea of vines.

History

The rock shares the geological story of Solutré: it began as a coral reef, was later lifted and tilted towards the east, and was then shaped by erosion. In prehistoric times Neanderthal groups used its rock shelters, and their bones have been found there. Today the rock is protected under Natura 2000, together with Solutré and the Mont de Pouilly, and its cliffs are used for climbing.