His Serene Highness Prince Albert II travelled to the Italian border this week to visit the Balzi Rossi Museum in Ventimiglia, a remarkable prehistoric site that has long symbolised the scientific and historical ties between Monaco and the Ligurian region…
Welcomed by local authorities, the Sovereign toured the museum’s two main exhibition spaces overlooking the Mediterranean. The visit highlighted the extraordinary archaeological discoveries made in the caves of the Grimaldi complex, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Southern Europe.
The history linking Monaco to Balzi Rossi dates back to 1882, when Prince Albert I intervened to protect the caves from quarrying that threatened to destroy their invaluable prehistoric deposits. His actions ensured the preservation of a site that continues to shed light on early human history in the Mediterranean.
Excavations carried out over decades have revealed layers of occupation stretching back more than 200,000 years. Researchers have uncovered Neanderthal tools, evidence of hunted animals and even human remains, including part of a woman’s pelvis dating back roughly 220,000 years, among the oldest discoveries of its kind in Europe.
The caves also provide an exceptional record of environmental and climatic change, with geological layers allowing scientists to trace fluctuations in sea levels and landscapes over hundreds of thousands of years.
Still actively studied by teams from Monaco’s Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology, the site remains a key reference point for understanding humanity’s distant past and the evolution of the Mediterranean world.
Image: Monaco Info