Discovery of the cave juillet 2000 (≈ 2000)
Update during mining work.
15 août 2000
First observation of crystals
First observation of crystals 15 août 2000 (≈ 2000)
Angel Caballero discovers the concretions.
20 avril 2003
Open to the public
Open to the public 20 avril 2003 (≈ 2003)
Inauguration on Easter Day.
4 mars 2013
Site classification
Site classification 4 mars 2013 (≈ 2013)
Official protection by ministerial decree.
août 2024
Vandalism Act
Vandalism Act août 2024 (≈ 2024)
Damage to a concretion by a visitor.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Angel Caballero - Discoverer and operator
Revealed the cave in 2000.
Maximilien Caballero - Angel's father, initiator of the career
Inspired the name *Maxange*.
Origin and history
The cave of Maxange, located in Buisson-de-Cadouin in the south of the Dordogne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), was discovered in July 2000 during work in a stone quarry. Angel Caballero, operator of the Mestreguiral quarry, discovered an obstructed cavity, revealing after the release of exceptional crystallizations on August 15, 2000. The name Maxange combines his father's first names, Maximilian (initiator of the career), and his. As early as 2003, mining was abandoned in favour of tourism development, with a public opening on 20 April 2003, Easter Day. The site was classified by ministerial decree in 2013 for its geological and landscape value.
The cave consists of two karst networks totalling 200 meters, divided into a lower cave (70 m) with aragonite bouquets and a higher cave (130 m) rich in various concretions. Drained at the Eocene by an underground river in limestones of Campanian (upper Cretaceous), it evolved from a drowned medium to an aerial cavity, partially filled with sediment. Crystallisations, including iconic eccentrics such as parrots, formed during and after this phase. Traces of cave bears (griffades, scapula) indicate prehistoric attendance.
The concretions of Maxange, in calcite and aragonite, present a remarkable diversity: eccentric (overrepresented), stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, fistulauses, and triangles (not accessible to the public). Their colouring, from earthy brown to translucent white, results from variations in iron oxides. The site, visited by 40,000 people annually, employs about ten seasonal workers in summer. In 2024, an act of vandalism damaged a concretion, recalling the fragility of this heritage.
Ranked among the protected natural sites of Dordogne, the Maxange Cave illustrates both a rare geological phenomenon and a successful model of tourist conversion. Its development, initiated after the cessation of mining, allowed to preserve a unique underground ecosystem, while offering an educational experience on speleogenesis and crystallology. The site remains a living testimony to the interactions between human activity, natural history and heritage conservation.
