Grotte de Bédeilhac, Bédeilhac-et-Aynat

Bédeilhac-a cave located in southern France, in the Bédeilhac-ET-Aynate commune in the Ariège department, in the Pyrenees band. Archaeological position, containing prehistoric rock paintings. From September 18, 1929, he has the status of a monument historique in the classé category.

The cave is located at an altitude of 690 m a.s.l. Its powerful entrance is 57 m high. The system of internal galleries and corridors has a total of over 750 m long. Inside the cave there are rock paintings from about 15,000 years ago, made by the population of Magdalena culture, depicting bison, horses, reindeers, impressions of human hands and abstract geometric signs. During archaeological work, a significant number of unique reliefs with images of animals made in rock, mineral fragments and clay pieces were also discovered.

The first known description of the cave was prepared in 1772 by Jean-François Marcorelle, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Basic archaeological research was conducted in 1866 by the Philist, Noulet and Garrigou, but it wasn't until 1906 that Edward Harle was the first to draw up documentation covering the walls of the cave of prehistoric paintings, then tested by Henri Breuil and Hugo Obermaier Cartailhac. Cave research continued in the interwar period. During World War II, the Germans installed an aviation equipment warehouse inside the cave; As a result of the earthworks at that time, numerous layers were removed near the entrance to the cave, irreversibly destroying many archaeological traces. After the war, archaeological works were resumed.

In the Bédeilhac cave, the first film material registered underground was made, hence the first live television broadcast from the cave was also given. In 1974, the French pilot Georges Bonnet made a successful start by plane from inside the cave.