1n 1965 the vice-president of the Office de Tourisme, Richard Danis decided to make a detail by detail exploration and inventory of the cavities of the rock where the Château de Foix, in The Ariège department stands.
In the company of other cavers and a historian, Robert Simmonat, discovered traces of life on the site that date back centuries.
They found Roman money from the 3rd century and remains of pottery from the Roman and middle ages, bones and flints from the prehistoric era.
The search went of for 3 years, and in 1969 they had listed 29 galleries and caves under the château.
The entry to these caves are through the various holes in the gardens of the inhabitants of the “rock” and have served as refuges for people down the ages, including Jews during the second World War.
Many of the caves have been damaged through the centuries as they have served as cellars and even rubbish tips for the inhabitants, although Richard Danis insists that there are still lots to discover under our feet.
For his next dig, Richard Danis wants to return to one of the caves that features an engraved horse dating back to 10,000BC.