Grottes de Calès, Underground dwelling site in Lamanon, France.

Grottes de Calès is a troglodyte habitat cut into the eastern cliff of the Alpilles near Lamanon, with 58 dwelling cavities inside a natural cirque and as many outside. Narrow staircases carved in the rock link the levels, and beam holes in the cliff face show that some openings were reached only by branch ladders. The pale, weathered rock holds dark recessed openings above a low section of stacked stone walling.

The caves were first used as Ligurian dwellings, with 58 living cavities identified inside the cirque and as many outside. They were inhabited from the 12th to the 16th century by 120 to 220 people. In the 1390s, troops of Raymond de Turenne plundered Lamanon and drove the population into the caves; they were definitively abandoned in 1586 during the Wars of Religion.

The name Calès comes from a tradition that a man named Kalès and his troops hid in these cavities during the Saracen raids. The site is reached by narrow staircases cut into the rock, and holes for beams (boulins) in the cliff show that some chambers were entered only by branch ladders. The most developed fittings, fireplaces, cupboards and door rebates, date from the last period of occupation.

The caves have narrow stone stairs and low passages that require careful movement and attention to your surroundings. Wearing sturdy shoes with good grip and bringing a flashlight makes navigating the different levels much safer and easier.

Gullies cut into the rock channeled runoff into cisterns and aiguiers, and holes for boulins show that some chambers could only be reached by branch ladders. The site holds 58 dwelling cavities inside the cirque and as many outside, and a statue of the Virgin now crowns the troglodyte village.