CENTER OF THE EARTH: A titanium-plated cone reflects natural light into the park’s lower levels
UNITED KINGDOM SUMMER PEARLS: London's architectural gems along the banks of the Thames
MUSIC: Europe's best pop and rock gatherings
BAGPIPES: The plaintive sounds of Scotland
SUBMARIUM: Journey to the bottom of the sea FESTIVALS: Fun in the sun in West Belfast
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FRANCE and SWITZERLAND VULCANIA: Blow your top at France's volcano park
ART: Berthe Morisot, the unknown Impressionist
FESTIVALS: Aix-en-Provence has it all
ART: The Barbizon School painters come to life
ART: Take a stroll through medieval gardens of delight
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SPAIN, PORTUGAL, ITALY and GREECE SALAMANCA: The city splashes out on culture
MUSIC: God's rock stars: the singing Greek monks
FOOD: Italy's unusual culinary delights
FILM: Great outdoor viewing in Rome
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GERMANY and BENELUX HORTICULTURE: The world blossoms at Floriade
BRUGGE: Belgium's second city shines
ART: Berlin's homage to multiculturalism ART: The best of the world's artists on show at Documenta 11 DANCE: Czech twin ballerinos steal the show in Hamburg MORE ..
CENTRAL and EASTERN EUROPE ART: Yugoslavia's modern art museum is back
ART: A retrospective of Samizdat art and writing from the Communist bloc
GRAZ: Austria's little-known city of culture
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THE NORDIC REGION DESIGN: Denmark celebrates Arne Jacobsen
MUSEUM: Get a blast from the past at Stalin World
STOCKHOLM: Welcome to the Venice of the North
MUSIC: Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on tour MORE ..
PLUS LISTINGS: Other things to see and do in each region
A theme park in the Auvergne offers journeys to the center of the earth
Abandon all hype ye who enter here. A visit to Vulcania, the newly-opened "European Volcanic Park" on the northern edge of the Puys volcano chain in central France's Auvergne region, begins with a spiraling descent into the smoking depths of a crater. "This is not an amusement park," says scientific director François-Dominique de Larouzière. "This is a park for scientific exploration." So don't expect roller-coaster rides over molten lava or "red-hot" rock candy. Instead, expect to become a vulcanologist who journeys across space and time to explore deep under the earth's crust, to the birth of the solar system, the edge of erupting volcanoes and the sites of modern-day natural catastrophes.
The brainchild of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former French President and current head of Auvergne's regional council, Vulcania took 10 years to complete. There was the inevitable wrangling over the cost, opposition from local Green Party members and a torrent of technical difficulties. One local rumor even had it that digging foundations would awaken neighboring volcanoes that have lain dormant for 6,000 years. Thirty-seven lawsuits later, the park opened in February.
Now that Vulcania is up and running, regional officials hope it will lure a projected 500,000 to 800,000 annual visitors to explore Auvergne's rich cultural heritage and variegated landscape. Auvergne is home to hundreds of France's finest Roman ruins, Romanesque churches, medieval castles and Renaissance palaces. With its thermal springs, conical and dome-shaped peaks, wild river gorges, trout-filled crater lakes and heavy woodland, it is also the unspoiled volcanic heartland of the Massif Central. Sprinkled across it, spa towns and winter resorts offer everything from ice fishing and skiing to summer canoeing and hiking.
"Sculpted out of the earth," is how architect Hans Hollein describes Vulcania, which seamlessly blends in with its surrounding environment. Three-quarters submerged underground, its exhibition chambers are carved out of five layers of hardened grey lava. Basaltic rock coats the exterior of a 28-m-high split cone that stands at the center of the structure. The cone's titanium-plated interior reflects natural light through a glass window into the subterranean space, and the exotic greenery of a "volcanic garden" catches the sun in a partially-buried greenhouse at the center of the exhibit.
Once inside, visitors are treated to a synopsis of current global volcanic activity, then pass into an earthquake-simulation gallery where spectacular images of eruptions flicker across razor-sharp rocks. A mock base camp, complete with a car covered in volcanic ash, leads into a genuine lava tunnel dug out of an ancient lava flow. Farther on, the visitor is free to roam among the small displays and screens that show everything you ever wanted to know about volcanoes. Were you aware that the largest volcano yet discovered is three times the height of Mount Everest — and on Mars? Particularly commendable is the section that maps 516 of the world's 1,511 active volcanoes and provides live webcam links to 37 of them. There is much to read at Vulcania, all of it translated into English and placed at levels accessible for children. A 3-D film describes the formation of the nearby Puys chain of volcanoes and features prehistoric creatures. There are also interactive games, including an observatory where spectators can play at policy making: based on a given catastrophe scenario, should they evacuate populations at the foot of a volcano?
Vulcania hopes to generate revenues of €12 million to €18 million a year. Even if it falls short, it could still become a nexus for international research with ties to scientific institutions worldwide and an expanding documentation center. That's in addition to providing lessons about the wonders of the natural world for admirers of all ages, and inspiration for a future generation of vulcanologists.
Vulcania is situated 15 km west of Auvergne's capital, Clermont-Ferrand. Vulcania, Route de Mazayes, 63230, Saint-Ours-les-Roches, France • Phone:+33 (0)4 73 19 7000 • Website:www.vulcania.com
