• A REPLICA OF THE COSQUER CAVE

    The interpretation center will present a faithful restitution of the submerged cave and its artistic treasures, dated between 33,000 and 19,000 years ago.

    Le projetLa grotte Cosquer
    © MC-DRAC PACA SRA - Michel OLIVE

A replica of the Cosquer Cave – Marseille 2022

The original cave

The Cosquer Cave is a submerged archaeological cave in the creeks of Marseille. It comprises more than 500 exceptional works of cave art.

The site

In 2022, a faithful reproduction of the cave will open in the Villa Méditerranée, which is owned by the Région Sud and is located on the J4 esplanade in Marseille, several metres from the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MUCEM).

The themes

  • A replica of the Cosquer Cave, a masterpiece of cave art, which can be visited in exploratory vehicles (small autonomous vehicles)
  • An interpretation centre focusing on cave art, prehistory, and the issue of rising sea levels, of which the Cosquer Cave is a unique example
  • Scenography initiating visitors to diving
  • A film on the story of the cave’s discovery in the large auditorium
© MC-DRAC PACA SRA - Michel OLIVE
© MC-DRAC PACA SRA - Michel OLIVE
© Kleber Rossillon

The Cosquer project in video

The film portrays the project to create the Cosquer Cave’s Interpretation Centre as it will be  implemented in the Villa Méditerranée in Marseille.

The film shows the location, the scenography, the various areas and ambiences, and the exploratory vehicles, and pays tribute to the extinct animals.

4 different areas

Immersion

Begin your visit with a stroll over the water, where you will see Henri Cosquer’s boat. Discover the ambience in his diving club with all the equipment that was used thirty years ago.

Exploration

Below sea level, on board exploratory vehicles and equipped with audio headsets, enter the cave and enjoy a unique experience in an atmosphere that is in every way the same as that enjoyed by Henri Cosquer !

© Kleber Rossillon

Knowledge

Enter a 30,000-year-old Palaeolithic cave that opens on to Cape Morgiou and discover the extinct animals. Then discover the climatic changes and their impact on rising sea levels and the environment.

© Kleber Rossillon

Excitement

Experience the discovery and the dangers of Henri Cosquer’s amazing underwater adventure, and then talk to our cultural mediators after a screening of the film in the amphitheatre.

The original cave: key figures

500

works of cave art

37 meters

below sea level

175 meters

The cave is accessed via a 175-metre-long submerged tunnel

La replica : key figures

500 000 visitors

each year

2 000 m²

A basin with a surface area of 2,000 m2 and a floating walkway

400 seat

amphitheatre

THE REBIRTH OF A SUBMERGED MASTERPIECE

AN IMMERSIVE FILM

A film about Henri Cosquer’s adventure in the large amphitheatre, which can be reserved for private events

EXPLORATORY VEHICLES

Small autonomous vehicles with the very latest technology used in theme parks

A WORLD OF DISCOVERY

An immersion in the world of diving and Henri Cosquer, during the cave’s discovery

PERMANENT EXHIBITION

Take a trip back in time and discover the Triperie Creek, near Cape Morgiou, during the Ice Age

REPLICAS OF EXTINCT ANIMALS

Areas devoted to the extinct species represented in the cave

DYNAMIC PROJECTIONS

Innovative digital tools addressing the theme of the climate and rising sea levels

Follow Cosquer on social networks

 

THE REBIRTH OF A SUBMERGED MASTERPIECE

An archaeological treasure

The Cosquer Cave is a submerged archaeological treasure, located on the Triperie Creek, near Cape Morgiou, between Cassis and Marseille.

A long human occupation

There was a long and uninterrupted human occupation (between 33,000 and 19,000 years ago) in this cave.
It was discovered by the diver Henri Cosquer in the 1990s.

Masterpieces of cave art

It contains more than 500 exceptional cave art works, including unique representations of marine animals such as seals, jelly fish, and penguins.

A submerged cave

Due to the rising levels of the oceans since the end of the glacial period, the site is a submerged cave (the only one yet discovered), whose entrance lies 37 metres beneath the current sea level.

© MC-DRAC PACA SRA - Michel OLIVE
© MC-DRAC PACA SRA - Michel OLIVE
© MC-DRAC PACA SRA - Luc VANRELL

Discover all the news & events
of the COSQUER cave replica

News and events
12

THE CAVE: KEY DATES

  • 33 000 years ago

     

    first

    human occupation of the cave

  • 19 000 years ago

     

    second

    human occupation of the cave

  • 1991

     

    Discovery of the cave

    by Henri Cosquer

THE KEY PHASES IN THE PROJECT

  • 2020

     

    Handing over of the keys

    in June for the commencement of work in September

  • 2020

     

    a conference

    on the creation of the cave’s replica on 7 October

  • 2022

     

    Inauguration

    and opening to the public of the replica

This post is also available in: French