Cirque de Saint-Même
natural Amphitheater in Savoie and Isère
The Cirque de Saint-Même is a natural amphitheater located in the east end of the massif de la Chartreuse in the French departments of Savoie (north) and the Isère (south) districts separated by the Guiers Vif, river through the natural circus.
Information
Located at 900 m above sea level in the districts of Saint-Pierre d'Entremont, the circus is also part of the nature reserve Hauts de Chartreuse .
It is characterized by large layers of urgoniennes rocks, where four waterfalls (from the top to the bottom: Cascade des Sources, Grande cascade, Cascade isolée, Pisse du Guiers) are dominated by limestone cliffs of an elevation of 500 meters. The water comes from Guiers Vif underground sources, historical border between the Dauphiné and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and now this is the limit between the two departments of Savoie and Isère.Two important caves are present in the circus. The cave of Guiers Vif, downstream exit of the Malissard network, and the cave of Mort-Rû located further north at 1,130 m above sea level. The latter has a development of 8,000 m leading to a vertical drop of 331 m. An upper entrance was opened by the cavers, the Cave of the Masks, allowing a crossing of 252 m of elevation for 690 m of development.
The public source identifies “Cirque de Saint-Même” as natural Amphitheater in Savoie and Isère. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cirque, Saint-Même and natural.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Cirque de Saint-Même”, the useful work is to connect “natural Amphitheater in Savoie and Isère” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2974265. Authority coordinates are 45.400, 5.891. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cirque de Saint-Même”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cirque de Saint-Même primary sources, Cirque de Saint-Même archive and Cirque research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cirque de Saint-Même”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cirque de Saint-Même” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.