Know the History of Marseilles by Watching Buildings

Fort Saint-Jean is also called as Fort Saint. It was the defensive castle of Marseilles previously and was established at river mouth of old port as ordered by famous King Louis XIV in 1660. Actually, this castle is used to supervise the management personnel instead of being used to prevent invasion from outside, and it was also used as the prison. The cannon on the castle points inside of city, instead of outside the city, and is very deterrent.

Nowadays, Fort Saint-Jean has become the history museum. The whole old port is in full view when you stand at the top of fortress which can't be missed by photography enthusiasts. There are many modern building near the castle, especially the modern Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée. They are full of visual impact.

Palais Longchamp is the grand building in order to commemorate the completion of canal construction engineering consuming 10 years in Marseilles in 1839, and it is also the beautiful temporary imperial palace of Napoleon III. The building integrates the Barock, Roman and Oriental styles, and there is sculpture fountain with the "Song of Praise of Water" as theme in the middle of building. There are the museums at the end of long corridor-- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille and Le Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle.

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille is located on the left of Palais Longchamp, and displays the paintings, sculptures and sketches with neoclassicism and realism in France and Italy. While the Le Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle is located on the right of building and is one of 10 grade I museums in France.

Cathédrale La Major is also called as Cathedrale Saint. It is not far from the old port, and is close to the old town of Pagnier. The Byzantine building in the 19th century has been the Marseilles cathedral since the 5th century A.D. If you went to Florence, you would certainly feel it is very familiar, because its front door with a stripe adopts the classical green marble from Florence.

The altar made by Italian artist Luca della Robbia in 1122 and the altar consecrated to Lazarus (biblical character) in the 15th century are collected in the church as well as the tombs of the bishop who contributed his life to people during plague pandemiic in the 18th century.

Abbaye Saint-Victor is located on the south bank of the old port in Marseilles. It was established on the basis of an ancient old town ruin in the 5th century A.D. Although it is called a Christian abbey, its appearance makes it look like a castle. Just starting from this abbey, the whole Provence begins a kind of Christianization process.

There is a peculiar underground tomb in the abbey which collects the important cultural relics and stone coffins from the 5th century A.D., including the Madonna and Child carved with walnut. It is said that this holy statue can help people to avoid calamity. On the Kyndelmisse every year (February 2), the abbey becomes the pilgrimage place of believers where the ship-shaped biscuit is sold to cherish the old friends and to pray for safety.

La Vieille Charité is the core building in old town of Marseilles Pagnier, but is easily submerged by the folk houses in old town. It contains two museums. The simple building was designed by Pierre Puget, the design master of Versailles. It was a poor asylum ordered by the French royal family in 1670 originally, and it is divided into the hospital and the dome church.

There are two museums in the asylum-- Musée d’Archéologie Méditerranéenne and LeMuséed’ArtsAfricains，OcéaniensetAmérindiens. In addition to the regular exhibition, there would also be the painting exhibitions of masters such as Picasso. Even if you don't watch the exhibition, it is very comfortable to sit in the "courtyard" full of the sense of art and look at the blue sky.

Saint-Vincent de Paule is also called as Les Réformés and is close to the railway station. The church has been built for over two hundred years and many people feel a kind of visual sense of the spire Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris when seeing it. The Gothic church contains the labeled Twin Towers, is 70m in height and is very grand. The gate is cast by bronze.

If you aren't in a hurry, you can take a walk along the Canebiere Avenue and pass by the St Ferreol pedestrian street and Marseilles opera house, and the Arab market of fresh fruits and vegetables is nearby and there is a giant sculpture of giraffe near the church.