THE HYÈRES AMPHORAE

The amphorae site consitutes 150 individual antitique amphorae in the bay of La Tour Fondue. It is part of a network of archaeological trails, on land and underwater, in France in the Hyères region of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sometime between 70 and 65 BC, a ship transporting 6,000 amphorae filled with wine, travelling from Italy to Spain, sank near the small village of La Madrague on the Giens peninsula. The wreck, with its amphorae, was discovered in the early 1970s, and is in very good condition.

After a lot of preparation work, the more than 2,000-year-old amphores were installed in the bay by AREVPAM (Assocation de Recherches, Etudes et Valorisation du Patrimoine Méditerranéen – Association of Research, Studies and Valorisation of Mediterranean Heritage). They were placed carefully to mimic the situation in which they were found.

Experimenting with proper placement since 2012, 30 amphorae were fixed to the sandy bottom of the bay in 2014, and now 120 more have been placed in the bay.

Easy to reach at a depth of six to seven metres, the site is open to the public, so that divers, snorkellers and swimmers can share in the feeling of discovery…