The third option of the Museum includes the Joffre Trench and the so-called Virgin Cave, which lies to the west compared to the first two areas. Unlike the latter, this area of the Karst had passed under the Italian control as early as June 1915, when the Messina Battalion entered Monfalcone without encountering resistance by the Habsburg army.
In fact, while the enemy retreated for a few hundred metres on the line of Heights 121 and 85, the Italian army started to build an entrenched system to connect the railway station with Height 98. This was to prevent possible enemy incursions in case of break-through. As we can still see today, the passage between the rocks was reinforced in following stages and is still in good shape. It was eventually dedicated to General Joseph Joffre, who led the French Army until the tragic battle of Verdun (1916).
During the excavation of the trench, a few hundred metres from the railway station, a large underground cave was found, with no openings. This casual discover offered the Italian troops a great opportunity to create a shelter from enemy fire. Given its casual finding, it was named "Virgin" Cave and was arranged to accommodate some interconnected wooden barracks. Some rock-hewn stairs were built at the main entrance and a second entrance was dug for safety purposes.
Above the entrance of the cave, you can see a plaque, partly ruined, representing a female figure holding a palm branch in her hand. Unfortunately, we cannot read the entire wording on the plaque but only the words "this virgin cave first saw the light". Further on along the cave, another cave, known as "Nottoli Cave" or Bat Cave", was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army in the early stages of the war. These two cavities played a key role as used to provide shelter to around 500 soldiers.
