Ambronay Cave
Earlier this month on a trip to Europe we stopped in a small town north of Lyon, France named Ambronay. You could probably long jump across it, but the place was simply beautiful and beautifully simple. We wandered through an ancient Abbey (see pic) drank wine (bought directly from the vinyard) from castle ruins overlooking the valley, and just gobbled up the history (and French food) like ravenous little beasts (the S/O is penning a novella that includes an orphan sucked into the silk production business).
But I have a question I can't answer, and I place this here in the hopes some Google searcher who stumbles upon the post can educate me.
Behind an old hotel I noticed an unkept path that wound down through the woods to a beautiful Koi pond. Near the pond, buried in the earth was what looked like a man made cave that hadn't been really used in thousands of years. The cave had "windows" that overlooked the koi pond. Photos below of both the hotel and the cave entrance from above and within.
It's strange in that it would make a beautiful little park, but the whole wooded area is just left overgrown. Locals told us that it was from 1100 or so, but nobody has any real idea what exactly it was for (strange for a village that small). Fishing? Escape from frisky monks? A place to visit WITH frisky monks? Ritualistic sacrifice?