Qualla: Vulcania

Vulcania: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aurkawl, CC BY-SA 4.0. Katia and Maurice Krafft spent their lives getting dangerously close to erupting volcanoes. On June 3, 1991, a pyroclastic flow at Japan's Mount Unzen killed them both. The couple left behind an extraordinary body of film and photography -- and a dream. They had long envisioned a place where the public could experience the power and beauty of volcanoes without the mortal risk. That dream eventually took physical form in the Chaine des Puys, a chain of dormant volcanoes in central France, where a theme park called Vulcania opened in 2002. Three-quarters of it lies underground.

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Image: Aurkawl | CC BY-SA 4.0

Vulcania: A President's Crusade

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lionel Allorge, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Kraffts' vision might have died with them had it not captivated Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former President of France. After leaving national office, Giscard d'Estaing served as President of the Regional Council of Auvergne, and he threw his political weight behind the pro...

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Image: Lionel Allorge | CC BY-SA 3.0

Vulcania: Descending into the Volcano

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ji-Elle, Public domain. Austrian architect Hans Hollein, winner of architecture's highest honor, the Pritzker Prize, designed Vulcania as an experience that begins the moment visitors start walking downhill. A ramp descends toward a cone-shaped structure clad in dark volcanic stone, its interior lined w...

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Image: Ji-Elle | Public domain

Vulcania: Where Science Meets Spectacle

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fabien1309, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. Vulcania walks an unusual line between education and entertainment. Its centerpiece 4-D film, "The Awakening of the Auvergne Giants," imagines the dormant volcanoes around the park stirring to life. In 2008, the park introduced the VolcanBul, a GPS-guided electric vehicle that ta...

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Image: Fabien1309 | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Vulcania: Living with Dormant Fire

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ji-Elle, Public domain. The name Vulcania reaches back through centuries of mythology. Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge, appears in Virgil's Aeneid as a smithy beneath the earth. Jules Verne placed Captain Nemo's secret base in a volcanic lair. The park trades on this deep association between...

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Image: Ji-Elle | Public domain