The underground Furan beneath Saint-Étienne

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Here is an underground exploration of the Furan, a 9-kilometer underground river that runs beneath the city of Saint-Étienne in the Loire department (42).

Who would have guessed that such a long underground river runs beneath the city of Saint-Étienne? It's true that if you specifically look for this information, you can find it, but in reality, the river is rather secretive. It is little known. The video shows the easiest places to access. In the city center, it's hell on earth; or rather, hell underground!

The river is very dangerous. Its name, Furan, is derived from the dialect word “fureur” (fury). It can rise very suddenly, by more than two meters in a quarter of an hour. That's why the visit was made very early in the morning in extremely calm conditions. Even so, it was no walk in the park. In the city center, there are no gutters, the kind of sidewalks that can be seen everywhere in my pictures.

Nine kilometers of underground passageways is absolutely enormous. The river was covered because in the past, its waters were polluted and foul-smelling, due to tanneries, among other things. Today, the water is much better. In the deep waters of the city center, you can see white fish, completely depigmented. But how can they feed?

This is not a unique document; Furan has already been described, but it is so rare here. It is a pleasure to be able to present it and showcase it.