Espace Pierres Folles

Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, France, France

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Espace Pierres Folles, now renamed Fossilea and reopened in May 2025, is a geological museum, botanical garden, and geological trail located in Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, Rhône department, France, about 20 minutes south of Lyon in the Beaujolais region at the heart of the Pays des Pierres Dorées.

Created in 1987 on the filled-in zones of an old Lafarge Ciments quarry, the site covers 2 hectares with 8,400 square meters devoted to botanical plantations featuring a collection of 527 to 530 plant species, including 97 woody plants and 430 herbaceous plants representing wild flora from Lyon and Beaujolais. The garden is built around remarkable geological features including a beautiful exposed fault line visible in the old quarry walls, and the site is now a key geosite of the UNESCO-recognized Beaujolais Geopark.

The newly modernized museum Fossilea serves as an interpretation center for the Beaujolais Geopark, offering educational experiences on geology, archaeology, paleontology, and botany with adult admission costing 8 euros, and the garden and geological trail remain open permanently with free access for independent visits while guided tours are available for 3 euros per person.