The three-masted sailing ship Belem, which transfers the Olympic Flame for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to Marseille, crosses the canal of the Corinth Isthmus, Peloponnese, Greece.
View this post on Instagram
The mission of transporting the Olympic flame on the first leg of its journey to the opening ceremony in Paris was given to one of France’s most venerable sailing ships, the Belem, built in 1896.
Between April 26 and May 8, the ship will sail the Mediterranean to bring the flame from Greece to Marseille, the start of the Olympic torch relay on French soil.
The three-mast ship is 127 years old, and is the last great French merchant ship still sailing. Its largest mast reaches 34 metres tall when on the water, and the ship itself is 58 metres long. It has 22 sails with a total surface area of 1,200m2, and two 575 horsepower diesel engines.
Originally used as a merchant ship from 1896 to 1914, it was a luxury British yacht from 1914 to 1951, before becoming used in the Italian naval cadet school until 1979. It then returned to France.
Now considered to be a historic monument, it is used in large, national celebrations, including notably at the Diamond Jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.
Ms de Larauze said that the chance to use the Belem for such a journey was “a reward for work carried out over more than ten years” at the head of the foundation. “It’s our greatest achievement, a source of pride,” she said. “It’s France’s recognition of the work we have done to preserve this historic monument.”
The flame is “the most important passenger we have ever carried,” she said.
