Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Saint-Marcel Cave, located in Bidon en Ardèche, has been classified since 1934 for its geological formations and prehistoric deposits. Discovered in 1836 by a hunter, it was explored by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1892, who described it in detail in Les Abîmes. Its 57 km of galleries are home to soft lithic tools and traces of neolithic occupation, including a sheepfold and a dolmen.

Between 90,000 and 1,000 BC, the cave was occupied episodicly, especially during the Mousterian and ancient Neolithic periods. The excavations of René Gilles (1971) and Robert de Joly ( 1930-1940) revealed tools, a 20 000-year-old rock painting (red-ocre), and agro-pastoral structures. After the Bronze Age, its entrance shook naturally.

Tourism began in 1838 under the impetus of the then mayor of Bernis, with supervised visits to avoid looting. The cave was modernized in the 1960s and 1980s: the creation of an access tunnel (1988), a luminous spectacle, and the securing of archaeological areas. Since 1989, 600 metres have been open to the public, attracting more than 60,000 annual visitors.

Ranked a historical monument and a natural site in 1934, the cave is now owned by Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche, following a medieval donation (1228). Its expanding network (64 km in 2020) includes drowned galleries and recent rooms such as the Deconfinement Hall. It combines geological, archaeological and speleological heritage, with a world reputation.

The cave was also studied for its military potential during the Second World War, with the army piercing explosive access to store ammunition (abandoned project). Since 2012, it has lost its official "s" to become the cave of Saint-Marcel. A wine aging experience is carried out by local winemakers.

Geologically, the cavity formed per ascensum at the end of the Miocene, in cretaceous limestones, during the crisis of Messinian salinity. Its current development exceeds 64 km, with a 325 m elevation, including wells and siphons explored by clubs such as ARSPAN or GASOIL.

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