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…
History of Marseille
I designed this walk to showcase the layers of Marseille's history, tracking its development from ancient Greek foundations and royal fortresses to grand 19th-century monuments and World War II memorials.
Take this tour in street view →Listen in the Mira app
1. Palais Longchamp
2. Marseille Saint-Charles
Marseille Saint-Charles is marked by a monumental stone staircase of one hundred and four steps that connects the station, perched on a small hill, to the city streets below. When it opened in eighteen forty-eight, the station stood…
3. Port Antique
The Port Antique is an open-air archaeological site defined by its sunken, weathered stone remains nestled against the glass and concrete walls of the Centre Bourse shopping complex. Known locally as the Jardin des Vestiges, this area…
4. 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…
5. Hotel de Ville
The Hôtel de Ville of Marseille is a pink stone building facing the Old Port, distinguished by its Genoese Baroque architecture and a bust of King Louis the Fourteenth that crowns its central façade. Completed in sixteen seventy-three, it…
6. Mémorial des Déportations de la Ville de Marseille
The Mémorial des Déportations stands at the foot of Fort Saint-Jean, housed within a windowless concrete blockhouse built by the German military in nineteen forty-three. This structure was originally part of a network of coastal defenses…
7. Fort Saint-Jean
Fort Saint-Jean guards the entrance to the Old Port with its massive ramparts and the prominent, cylindrical Tour du Fanal. Built on the orders of King Louis the Fourteenth starting in sixteen sixty, the fortress occupies a strategic rise…
8. Abbaye Saint-Victor
The Abbaye Saint-Victor is a fortress-like church defined by its massive stone walls and crenellated towers that overlook the old port of Marseille. Founded in the fifth century by John Cassian, the abbey occupies a site that began as an…
9. 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…