from Sea to Land

Cosquer Cave

The exciting Cosquer Cave reconstruction project will be on show at the Villa Méditerranée from June 2022. Thanks to the efforts of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council, this archaeological treasure doomed to extinction, located 37 metres under the sea in the Calanques fjords, will now be immortalized.

Cosquer Cave

A treasure under the sea

In the Nineties, french diver Henri Cosquer discovered an archaeological treasure lying at a depth of 37 metres in the Calanques fjords in Marseille. The cave, soon to be named after him, was adorned with over 500 exceptional prehistoric cave paintings featuring animals (penguins, seals, horses, bison and aurochs) and stencilled hands. The Cosquer Cave is an exceptional witness to human presence at the site at two different periods: 33,000 and 19,000 BC. The historians Jean Courtin and Jean Clottes confirm the very ancient origin of the cave paintings.

At the time, the entrance to the cave was above water; this changed after the Ice Age, and the cave, along with the paintings created by our ancestors, has not been seen by any human for several tens of thousands of years. The Cosquer Cave is currently threatened by rising sea levels (around 3 millimeters per year); it is at risk of being submerged and is ultimately doomed to disappear.To immortalize this unparalleled legacy and raise awareness around the issue of global warming, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council decided to create an exact reconstruction of the Cosquer Cave in the heart of Marseille: a 70 million euro project, scheduled for completion in June 2022.

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Cosquer-Méditerranée: an immersive and faithful reconstruction

The Villa Méditerranée

Each painting is a valuable testimony to the life of our ancestors. Over 400 paintings adorn the walls of the Cosquer Cave. A painted hand teaches us more about the rituals of these distant societies, while the depicted animals help us better understand the climate that prevailed at that time in what is now Provence. A faithful reconstruction accessible to the public also helps preserve a unique place destined to disappear.

The Cosquer Cave reconstruction project set up home at the Mediterranean Villa in Marseille, opposite the Mucem (Museum of the Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean). An architectural feat signed by Italian architect Stefano Boeri, in collaboration with Ivan Di Pol and Jean-Pierre Manfredi, the villa is a property of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council.

Erected in 2013 and occasionally used as a convention centre, it had yet to find its true vocation by hosting a replica of one of the most beautiful prehistoric caves, opened to the public. The deal is now sealed!

An accurate replica of the Cosquer cave

And an immersive layout

Open to the public, the Cosquer Cave would attract millions of visitors from around the world each year. However, such a project is unthinkable, as it would require extensive work in the heart of a preserved natural area. The excavation of a new entrance and increased visitation would irreversibly degrade the paintings. As with the Lascaux and Chauvet caves, the construction of an accurate replica is the best solution to allow the general public to visit this exceptional site.

The tour begins on the Villa Méditerranée walkway, unveiling a replica of Henri Cosquer’s boat. On entering the villa, visitors discover the diving centre, showcasing the diving equipment in use when the cave was discovered thirty years ago. The layout, still in progress, is designed to recreate an immersive experience 37 metres underwater. Now it’s time to visit the cave itself… The elevators, soon to be fitted with screens, resemble diving cages. The villa’s basement is large enough to accommodate a quasi-identical reconstruction of the cave, on a scale of 0.96. This vast space, currently under construction, will feature 44 six-seater modules routing visitors through a 220-metre tunnel for 35 to 45 minutes.

You can admire many reproductions of marine animals (penguins, seals, fish…), handprints and abstract symbols.

A testimony to prehistoric art

A technical feat

Images cannot capture the relief of the walls and do not convey the atmosphere experienced in the cave. The technicians and engineers must replicate the relief and grain of the rock, and accurately depict the details of each painting, such as the thickness or direction of the strokes.

The original Cosquer Cave was digitized in order to create the reconstruction. Grids were covered with concrete to form the structure. Modelling plaster was used to reproduce the cave’s geological details, including faults, stalactites and stalagmites. The cave was then painted in the original colours of the rock. Panels featuring its works of art were created by studio painters on resin. Each panel was then hoisted using a pulley and attached to the rest of the decor. Nothing was left to chance, with geologists inspecting the reconstruction every week to ensure it was faithful to the original – an attention to detail on a par with the stakes: Cosquer Méditerranée is expected to attract 800,000 visitors per year.

Practical information

Would you like to discover this unique place in France, like tens of thousands of people? We can help you prepare your visit.

Access : The Villa Méditerranée is located near the Mucem. You can get there by metro, stopping at the Joliette metro station (Line 2), and walk along the quays of the port for about 1km.
Opening Times : Cosquer Méditerranée is open from Monday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Online booking : Do you want to discover the Cosquer Mediterranean Tour ? You can book your ticket online and find all the information you need for your visit on the official website: https://www.grotte-cosquer.com/en/homepage/
Group tours: yes (school or private groups)
Available languages: audio guides in 6 languages (French, English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian)