Balzi Rossi

What Balzi Rossi is

The name comes from Ligurian dialect, Bàussi Russi, “red rocks”: the wall, about 100 metres high, is iron-rich dolomitic limestone that turns red with weathering. The caves were used from about 230,000 to 12,000 years ago and have yielded stone tools, animal remains and sixteen burials, most of them about 25,000-23,000 years old. Excavations began in the 19th century (in 1846, funded by Prince Florestan I of Monaco) and have never entirely stopped.

The railway cuts the site in two. North of it, towards the hill, are the Conte Costantini, Fanciulli, Florestano and Caviglione caves; to the south, towards the sea, the Barma Grande. The Barma du Bausu da Ture, also to the south, was destroyed by a quarry.

The caves you can visit

The key one for visitors is the Barma Grande: between 1884 and 1894 it yielded the female statuettes known as the “Venuses of Balzi Rossi” and several burials, among them the famous triple burial of an adult and two young people about 25,000 years ago, with flint blades, pierced shells, deer canines and bone pendants. You visit it during museum hours.

Grotta del Caviglione

It opens for only one hour in the morning and one in the afternoon, and closes in wind or bad weather, so plan around those slots. It is worth the ticket for the horse engraving found in 1971, one of the rare examples of Palaeolithic rock art in Italy. The afternoon slot changes with the season: 3-4pm from October to June, 5-6pm from July to September.

The Grotta del Principe, the largest in the complex, is not part of the normal route: ask the museum if you are interested.

The prehistoric museum

The museum was founded in 1898 thanks to Sir Thomas Hanbury, the same man behind the nearby Hanbury Gardens. It was damaged in the Second World War, reopened in 1955 after the state bought it, and extended in 1994. Since November 2023 it has a renewed route, the “Percorso storia dell’Uomo”, with sections on Palaeolithic art, human evolution and research at the Grotta del Principe, plus a multimedia station that simulates a trip through time across the area’s climate phases. The original Venus statuettes are not here: some are in the Musée des Antiquités Nationales at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris.

Hours and tickets

The official site tells visitors to check before going for special closures and windy days. Contact: +39 0184 38113, drm-lig.museobalzirossi@cultura.gov.it. Official page of the Ministry of Culture

Getting there

By car it is about 8 km and 13-15 minutes from Ventimiglia: from the motorway exit take the SS 20, then the SS 1 towards France. The museum mentions free parking two minutes’ walk away. By public transport the easiest option is the train to Menton: from Menton Garavan station, in France, it is about a 20-minute walk to Balzi Rossi (see also from Nice by train). There is a Riviera Trasporti bus from central Ventimiglia towards Ponte San Luigi, but we have no confirmation that it stops near the museum: ask the operator before relying on it.

The sea below the cliffs

Under the walls there are rocks and small stretches of pebbles, with deep, clear water: bring water shoes, as there is no sand. Towards Capo Mortola is the Spiaggia delle Uova, with round, pale pebbles. Next to the rocks is La Spiaggetta dei Balzi Rossi, a private beach club with a restaurant, which you need to book. All the beaches in the area are in the guide to Ventimiglia’s beaches.

Planning your visit

• A full visit takes 1-2 hours: combine the museum with the Barma Grande and, if it lines up, one of the Caviglione slots.
• Best in the morning in summer, when it is cooler and the Caviglione opens at 11.
• In the afternoon you can carry on to the Hanbury Gardens, about 6 km away, or head back towards Bordighera.
• With children the museum’s multimedia route works well; for guided visits ask the museum directly.