The Palais Longchamp is recognizable by its grand central fountain, the château d’eau, which acts as a monumental triumphal arch from which water cascades into a series of basins. This neoclassical complex, designed by architect…
Best of Marseille
I designed this route to showcase Marseille's contrast of ancient maritime heritage and modern grandeur, sweeping from leafy 19th-century water palaces to the legendary island fortresses of the bay.
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1. Palais Longchamp
2. Old Charity Center
The Vieille Charité is defined by its massive, windowless outer walls of pink and yellow-tinted stone from the Cap Couronne quarries. Built to enclose a rectangular courtyard, the structure reveals its intended purpose through an…
3. Marseille Cathedral
You can identify the Marseille Cathedral by its sweeping, striped facade of alternating light and dark stones, a visual signature inspired by Italian cathedrals. Known locally as La Major, this massive structure commands the seafront, its…
4. Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations
The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, known as Mucem, is instantly recognizable as a dark, perfect cube wrapped in a delicate, lace-like concrete shell. Inaugurated in two thousand thirteen, the structure sits on the J…
5. Old Port of Marseille
The Old Port of Marseille is defined by the deep, natural limestone cove that slices into the heart of the city, now occupied by a dense forest of leisure boat masts. This harbor has served as the city's maritime center since six hundred…
6. Vallon des Auffes
The Vallon des Auffes is a natural cove in Marseille, tucked beneath the Corniche Kennedy and defined by a sixty-meter-long bridge with three large stone arches. This bridge, built in the nineteenth century by engineer Jean François Mayor…
7. Château d'If
The Château d'If rises as a square stone fortress with three towers, perched entirely upon the small limestone island of If in the Bay of Marseille. King Francis the First ordered its construction between fifteen twenty-four and fifteen…
8. Notre-Dame de la Garde
Notre-Dame de la Garde is defined by a massive golden statue of the Virgin Mary, which crowns the bell tower and glistens above the city’s highest limestone outcropping. Locals affectionately call the basilica La Bonne Mère, or the Good…
9. Stade Vélodrome
The Stade Vélodrome is unmistakable for the vast, white, wave-shaped canopy that appears to float above the arena. This translucent, scalloped roof, which rises sixty-five meters at its peak, was designed to shelter spectators from the…