A treasure hunt with 10,000 euros to be won and which finances heritage projects

Addicted to challenges and somewhat difficult puzzles? The publishing house 109 offers to rack your brains using a map, sold for 25 euros, to discover the location of the Basque treasure, in the Basque Country. No need to live there or be a connoisseur of the territory to participate, even if you have to go there ultimately because the last riddle can only be solved where the treasure is hidden. The winner who has shown the most sagacity to decipher all the puzzles will be rewarded with a nice check for 10,000 euros.

Nearly 2,000 participants have already started since October 1, the start date of the game. But none have found the location, and those who are tempted can still embark on the adventure. .

A treasure map game

“You receive your card at your home, rolled up as if you had discovered it in an attic or a tomb”, explains Julie, art historian, who had the idea for this game during the health crisis, in getting excited about the famous enigma of the Golden Owl (launched in 1993) and still unsolved… A dozen treasure hunts have been launched since but they depend on a book and not a map. And for Julie, it was more coherent to rely on a “geographical and imaginary” map for this long-term treasure hunt that calls for logic and deduction.

The plot is set in the 19th century and leads the participant to solve different puzzles that lead to a book, the backbone of the map. Be careful though, for those who already see themselves with a shovel in hand, the organizers did not want people to dig everywhere. “The map gives a procedure to follow and this is done by email quite simply”, says Julie.

When the world of culture was put on hold in 2020, Julie was writing her thesis on cross-border patronage in the Basque Country. “I didn’t know what to do with my ton of research, I couldn’t continue my thesis,” she explains. I then had the idea of ​​promoting my university research work in the service of local heritage. The treasure of Euskadi was born from these constraints.

Assistance to local heritage associations

The 109 publishing house was created in 2015 in the Ardennes to carry out cultural sponsorship actions. The Covid completely stopped the activity and Julie transferred part of the activity of the establishment to the Basque Country in 2020 to develop the concept of treasure hunting. Of the 25 euros spent on the purchase of the card that allows you to get started, five euros are donated to associations that work for local heritage. The ambition of the game is also to get participants interested in local history, in a fun way.

If the treasure of Euskadi transports them to the 19th century, a next hunt is planned in Arjuzanx in the Landes around the Resistance during the Second World War and another on the Templar theme, in Normandy.

In all, there are 12 cards published in 10,000 copies and linked together. They will lead to a thirteenth. At the rate of two treasure maps a year, puzzle buffs have set off for a saga of at least six years…

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