The Secret Vault Published by Frontier Publishing
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visit the store The Vault of Notre-Dame-de-Marceille A photographic overview The entrance to the underground vault is situated next to an old electricity transformation house, now largely in ruins. Access to the site was excellent in approx. 1995, degenerating by 1997 and 2001 and currently virtually inaccessible – a conscious decision of the local authorities it seems to dissuade people to venture towards what in essence is a higly dangerous site. Still, the site is not “inaccessible” and those willing to battle with thorns should have no problem in seeing this view, taken in 1995. After Keith Prince’s fall, access to the entrance was “cordoned” off by placing 2 steel rods, supporting a metal sheet (bottom right of photograph). Some black and yellow tape on the inverted U irons in the centre are remains of the 1995 rescue operation. This photograph was taken in 1997. Access to the corridor leading towards the vault is literally underneath the two steel rods. The two inverted U irons, with red paint, are part of the alterations made to the site in the 1920s, when the transformer was planted in and beside the vault. Many eyewitnesses have argued that the inverted U and the underlying cement might possibly obstruct/fence off an as yet undiscovered part of the vault. Image of the entrance, bird’s eye view. Inside the entrance/corridor, looking right, we see a fenced off/cemented part, even though the construction of the corridor suggests it continues. On-site inspections are required to see this detail – photographs are unable to capture the detail of this. The size of this cement block is just big enough for an adult to crawl through. Photograph taken in 1995. Inside the corridor. Not the white and red (further down) marble ceiling slabs. The floor of the corridor slowly descends. The stones at the top of the ceiling, visible in the distance, are the stones of the vault itself, where corridor and vault meet. View inside the vault, looking down. The wood visible in the bottom was “cleared” during 1991, by friends of Jos Bertaulet. No doubt, the site was used as a dump for such wood, in decades leading up to 1990. The hole in the lower masonry in the centre of the photograph is the bottom passage way into the second chamber of the vault. This photograph was taken in 1995. View from the end of the corridor into the chamber. The “window” of at the top is the “window” between the first and second chamber of the vault. Also observe the curved ceiling (arch) of the vault. This photograph taken in 1995.