épave saint Dominique

The Épave Saint Dominique is the wreck of a 70-metre Italian steel-hulled three-masted sailing ship, built in 1893 and lost on 16 June 1897 when a sudden mistral capsized it during a tow from the Vieux-Port toward l'Estaque for hull repairs. Three sailors did not survive. The wreck sits upright on a sandy bottom in Marseille's northern roadstead, masts long gone but hull structure and metalwork intact. The wooden deck between the upper and lower sections has deteriorated away over time, leaving the iron frame open to penetration from above and offering divers views up through the barred ribs toward the surface light — the effect is commonly described as spectacular and atmospheric. Coralligenous growth has colonised the hull, with spirographs and sponges giving the wreck colour, while groupers, conger eels, moray eels, scorpionfish, sea bream, and anthias are reliable encounters throughout the dive.