The shopping street in a cave

This came as a complete surprise, Selma the e-bike and I were just biking along the river back to the van and took a back way because the road along the Loire was a bit narrow. And suddenly found ourselves ducking through arches and tunnels, our path took us through a cave village!

These were just normal people living here in the middle ages, farming their fields and selling their wares in small shops, taverns and inns. Above ground, and not more than a few hundred metres away, was the medieval castle of Souzay, so it was all related in some way. The main local resource was stone, this beautiful warmly coloured, and easy to work, local treasure. So the village was basically in the quarry, and as the holes got bigger, more people could make homes and shops there. Really quite bizarre.

But smart too, because apparently the underground caves are cool in the summer and relatively warm and protected in the winter. Perfect for storing wine, and food, and hiding people if need be.

Life in the castle and the village would have been intertwined, and they say there would have been underground passages between the two. Makes sense. Conflict was never far away.

The river flow past nearby, and that’s where goods and soldiers and weapons and wine would have been transported. So it also makes sense that warehouses would have been part of this, also that protected workshops for woodwork, metalwork, leather, wool and more, would have been needed.

One character pops out in the castle story, Margaret of Anjou. Had to look her up (my memory is full of moth holes), but she was the french wife and queen of the unstable english king of the 1400s. Henry VI. Quite the women, and another one for our series of impressive female powerbrokers.

She married mid-1450s, had a son and king to be in 1453, which is when the hundred year war was ending, the war of the roses was starting; the middle ages were ending, and the renaissance was starting. The year Constantinople fell, and the roman empire finally fizzled. And when Leonardo da Vinci was born. Heavy times!

Margaret worked absurdly hard to keep things together as her unwell husband fell apart and his kingship was challenged, she wanted her young son to be able to succeed him. So she raised funds, raised armies, and raised havoc - cooking up daring strategies and physically leading the troops into battle. She could come back here to this chateau any time she needed a break, although its hard to imagine her ever sheltering in a tunnel.

Anyway, the tunnels were fascinating. Dark and mouldy, with traces of medieval épicieries and other shops. The main path through was called the Route du commerce, just imagine it with shops and stores lining the tufa walls.

But it was a relief to pop back out again into the air!

📍Souzay-Champigny, Loire, France 🇫🇷