Chapter 5
The Demoiselles cave, cradle of legends
The chasm has never ceased to inspire popular beliefs, fueled by men's fascination with the underground worlds . And before the first explorers entered the cave at the end of the 18th century, a strange tale ran through the hills of Languedoc and the forests of the Cévennes . A story known since the dawn of time, which is being told and still passed on ... A story of which you, in turn, will soon be the hero or heroine.
Little Jean's great fear
A long time ago, a very young shepherd named Petit Jean kept his flock on the Thaurac plateau. One day, when one of his sheep was missing, Little John, looking for her, found himself in front of the cave. He thought he heard bleating from the depths. To enter, one had to overcome the fear that the place inspired in the locals . Little Jean succeeded and slipped into the subterranean shadow. One step, another, lower, always lower… And the young shepherd suddenly slipped.
The fall seemed interminable to him. When he came to his senses and looked around, Little John thought he had fallen into a palace of the abyss. He was in an immense hall adorned with a thousand glittering columns around which a cloud of fairies danced with grace. Fainting at this sight, he awoke outside the cave, on the plateau, among his flock, in the company of his found sheep. Who brought him back?
The mystery of the cave remains intact
The story of Petit Jean circled the region. In the villages, people began to speak of the cave as the “Bauma de las fadas, de las damaïselas” . In Occitan, it means the “cave of the fairies or the Damsels”. Anyone who dared to approach could see them, draped in the white calcite that forms the stalactites. And even if today, the cave has revealed many of its geological secrets, you cannot help but, during your visit, look for the famous fairies in the concretions ...