This website requires JavaScript.

A love story in the heart of Thouzon caves

Inside the cave | Véronique PAGNIER / Public domain
Natural cavity Love story Legend Thouzon caves

A legendary cave!

We also know this place as the ″Fairy cave″… Besides, here’s a legend.

In the beginning of the 13th century, count of Toulouse Raymond VI wanted to marry off his daughter Noélie to a lord and friend of him.

But the pretty lady didn’t want to marry… because she was in love with a troubadour! One night, she ran away with him.

They were far away when Raymond realized it. Angry, he sent his henchmen on the trail of the two lovers.

Well, go get them, Raymond, go get! But you would never find them...

In fact, they took shelter in castle of Thouzon, in Provence. Henchmen realized it and tried to catch the two lovers.

But… each time, they escaped! Whoa, how did they do? Did they know trap openings, secret passages?

Nooo, better than that: the legend says a part of the cave interconnected with the castle, and that they found a secret passage where they could hide…

Anyway, Raymond never caught the two lovers, who probably lived together, happily...

The visit

The visit lasts 1 hour: just take a sweater, it’s freezing, inside (about 13°C in summer, brr).

We learn more about the cave: in 1902, workers working on a quarry discovered the cave of Thouzon, in Le Thor, on the hillside.

It’s a limestone massif from the Cretaceous. First they found the ″Devil’s wall″, a narrow passage about 300 metres long… in fact, this gallery was dug by an ancient underground river!

During the visit, you’ll follow the fossil bed of this river, then, at the bottom, a 10 metres hole: amazing!

Since 60 millions years, the run-off gave birth to incredible concretions on walls: stalagmites, stalactites…

The climax is here, with those unique ″fistula″ stalactites, 2 metres high and 3 millimetres in diameter!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!