Career Creativity Moyen Âge (≈ 1125)
Limestone extraction for Vauclair Abbey.
14 septembre 1914
Initial French take
Initial French take 14 septembre 1914 (≈ 1914)
Development in underground barracks.
25 janvier 1915
German catch
German catch 25 janvier 1915 (≈ 1915)
Renamed after fighting.
16 avril 1917
Offensive Nivelle
Offensive Nivelle 16 avril 1917 (≈ 1917)
French failure against German troops.
25 juin 1917
French partial resumption
French partial resumption 25 juin 1917 (≈ 1917)
340 german prisoners captured.
2006
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 2006 (≈ 2006)
State protection of the site.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Christian Lapie - Contemporary sculptor
Author of *The Constellation of Pain* (2007).
Haïm Kern - Sculptor
Memorial bronze inaugurated in 2017.
François Hollande - President of the Republic
Inaugurate sculpture in 2017.
Origin and history
The Dragon Cave is an ancient underground limestone quarry, dug in the Middle Ages on the plateau of the Chemin des Dames, near Oulches-la-Vallée-Foulon (Aisne). With an area of 3 hectares and a depth of 14 metres, its stones were used to build the Vauclair Abbey. These caves, typical of Aisne and Somme, were reused as military shelters during the First World War.
In 1914, French troops occupied the cave, laying in underground barracks with dormitories, chapel, operating block and wells. On 25 January 1915, the Germans took it after violent fighting, renamed it Drachenhöhle ("Caverne du Dragon"), with reference to the flames of machine guns evoking dragons. They install electricity, telephone and a 125-metre tunnel to their back lines.
The site played a key role during the Nivelle offensive (April 1917). On 16 April, the Germans on leaving disoriented Senegalese tirailers, contributing to the French failure. On June 25, 1917, the French partially resumed the cave with asphyxiating gases and flamethrowers, capturing 340 enemy soldiers. After several hand changes, it was finally resumed in October 1917 and then in 1918 after Operation Blücher-Yorck.
Ranked a historic monument in 2006, the Dragon Cave is now a museum space dedicated to the Great War. Two commemorative works have been added: the Constellation of Pain (2007) by Christian Lapie, a tribute to Senegalese tirailleurs, and a bronze sculpture by Haim Kern (2017), inaugurated by François Hollande for the centenary.
Its name also evokes its strategic position: located near the Isthmus of Hurtebise, narrow point of the plateau, it offered a panorama of the Aisne valley. The living conditions were extreme: 400 soldiers lived there for 4 years at 15 metres underground, in 12°C and 90% humidity.
