Thibault Hue, edited by Wassila Belhacine 06:21, June 04, 2022
The reproduction of the Cosquer cave opens its doors in Marseille.
This famous cavity discovered by chance in 1985 by the diver Henri Cosque, 37 meters deep in the Calanques National Park, is known for its large prehistoric frescoes.
Threatened by the rising waters, it has been completely rebuilt.
It is now open to the public.
REPORTAGE
Damp stalactites, hand-drawn horses on yellowish walls that seem 30,000 years old.
This reproduction of the Cosquer cave looks exactly like the initial model buried under water.
Alain Dalis, head of the Archeos workshop, worked for more than a year with his team to ensure that the immersion was perfect.
"We worked like prehistoric men at the time. We found the gestures, the materials, for example we cut small flints. We are going to try to find the moment of creation", he explains. .
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"A great prehistoric sanctuary of the time"
And there was urgency.
The original vestige is threatened by climate change, explains Frédéric Prades, director of the Cave: “This cave is in danger. The waters of the Mediterranean, like all the waters of all the seas in the world, are rising. A large part of the engravings and paintings of the Cosquer cave will have disappeared in a century. The idea is to have a testimony of this cave. It is a great prehistoric sanctuary of the time".
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A colossal project, worth 24 million euros, which could become one of the strongholds of tourism in the city.
500,000 visitors are expected for its first year of opening.