Calès Caves
The caves of Calès ( French : Grottes de Calès ) near Lamanon in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France are caves that have been inhabited from prehistory to the 16th century . The rock hollowed out by man served as a place of refuge or even as a year-round dwelling.
history
At first the caves served the Ligurians as dwellings. 58 apartments were found inside a basin and about the same number outside. Legend has it that a man named Kalès and his troops were able to hide there with his troops during the Saracen raid , hence the name. What is certain is that Calès was an important military camp in the Middle Ages. From the 12th to the 16th century, the caves were continuously inhabited, the number of residents fluctuated between 120 and 220. Small gutters soaked cisterns with water and thus provided the residents with a water supply.
Many times the cave served as a refuge for the residents of Lamanon. In the 1390s, Raymond de Turenne's troops looted Lamanon and caused the population to take refuge in the caves. Two centuries later, in the Huguenot Wars , the population fled there again. When peace reigned again in 1586, the caves were abandoned for good.
Web links
Coordinates: 43 ° 42 ′ 14 " N , 5 ° 4 ′ 56" E