Puy du Fou launches its treasure hunt, with 250,000 euros up for grabs!

(AFP) – Puy du Fou, a Vendée amusement park renowned for its historically inspired frescoes, will organize a treasure hunt with a sword estimated at 250,000 euros as the prize, it announced a few weeks ago after solving the riddle of the Golden Owl.

In a press release, Puy du Fou announces that it has designed a quest made up of 12 “calligraphic puzzles” which will lead those who solve them to “King Arthur’s sword”, named “Exkalibur” and which will begin on May 22, 2025. .

This sword was forged and set by the “best blacksmiths and jewelers in France”, claims the amusement park. It is entirely covered in gold, is decorated with a “red spinel – a precious stone – of 6.23 carats in the pommel” and weighs 3.4 kilos for 124 centimeters, specifies Puy du Fou, which estimates its value at 250,000 euros.

The sword will return to the winner of the treasure hunt and is buried “somewhere in the kingdom of France or perhaps even in a kingdom that was once linked to France by lineage,” explains the press release published Friday. But “it is not obligatory to travel to complete this quest”, which remains accessible to the general public, assures Puy du Fou.

The puzzles were designed by a Parisian company specializing in carrying out treasure hunts, “Unsolved Hunts”, which claims that the puzzles can “resist the extraordinary springs of artificial intelligence”, promises Puy du Fou.

Enigma solved after 31 years!

This announcement comes as the Golden Owl treasure hunt, which had lasted for 31 years, was resolved at the beginning of October.

The sculpture of the small raptor – weighing around ten kilos of precious metals and initially estimated at one million francs (150,000 euros) – was buried in April 1993 in a place that had to be identified using 11 enigmas, presented in the book “On the trail of the golden owl”.

Created by sovereignist Philippe de Villiers 47 years ago, Puy du Fou also announced an attendance record on Friday, with 2.8 million visitors in 2024.

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