The Riou Archipelago
Halfway between Marseille and Cassis, the Riou archipelago is home to a highly diverse fauna and flora. Enjoy a boat ride to discover the beauty of its islands.
A RICH HISTORICAL HERITAGE
Located at the extreme south of Marseille, off the coast of the Calanques massif, lies the Riou archipelago. Visible from the Marseille coast, it spans nearly 162 hectares and comprises several islands and rocky outcrops. Evidence of human activities, such as pottery fragments and tools discovered in the sandpit valley, dates back to the Neolithic period when the archipelago was a peninsula.
During antiquity, and even after, the archipelago welcomed sailors and fishermen and served as a landing place. It was also ideally positioned for monitoring the coast off Marseille. In the late 1800s, it was leased to individuals. Its sand was extracted to supply the works carried out in the lands.
AN INCREDIBLE BIODIVERSITY
Former nature reserve, it was in 2002 that the Riou archipelago joined the Calanques National Park, which promotes the protection of its fauna and flora. Access to it is restricted to control tourist flows. With no less than 320 plant species, including 18 protected by law, the Riou archipelago is popular with nature lovers who can come to observe or discover new varieties of flowers and animal species. During your walk, you may spot an ocellated lizard, a lizard, a Cory's shearwater, a Mediterranean shearwater, or a European storm-petrel. A renowned location for underwater archaeology, it is to the east of this island that the remains of Antoine de St Exupéry's plane were found.
THE RIOU ARCHIPELAGO AND ITS MANY ISLANDS
Measuring approximately 2 kilometers long by 500 wide, the island of Riou is one of the largest in the archipelago. It is on its beaches of sand or pebbles, located to the North, that one can land. Adorned with large cliffs of white limestone, the site owes its popularity to the beauty of its seabed and its incredible animal diversity.
Jarre Island is a small island that was set on fire with the Grand-Saint-Antoine, a three-masted sailboat that brought the plague to Provence in 1720. The remains of the wreck were discovered in 1978 and its remnants are visible at the Caroline Hospital Museum on the island of Ratonneau du Friou.
Plane Island is distinguished by its particularly flat relief, its regular coast, its pretty creek, and the Pouars cove.
Maïre Island is a small islet, located west of the Calanques massif and only 80 meters from the coast. Swimming across is strictly prohibited due to its strong sea currents.
