Picture added by Claudine et Pierre LASSALAS, owner of Gîte de la Poucinière in Saint-Sauves d'Auvergne

Located at an altitude of 1197 m, it was formed in the crater of an ancient volcano, is what is called a maar. In almost perfectly circular with a diameter of 900 to 1000 meters, it has a depth of 93 m, making it the deepest of Auvergne. Its area is 44 ha.

It is of very recent origin in contrast to the massive Monts Dore. There appears to be formed at the end of the period of volcanic activity that created the Chaîne des Puys, or there are about 6000 years. The explosion that formed was very violent, traces of this event have been found previously in sediments of Lake Geneva, while its volume is estimated at 75 million cubic meters.