48 Sights in Marseille, France (with Map and Images)

Notre-Dame de la Garde, known to local citizens as la Bonne Mère, is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage, it is the most visited site in Marseille. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 149 m (489 ft) limestone outcropping on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille.

Wikipedia: Notre-Dame de la Garde (EN), Website

Pierre Paul Puget was a French Baroque painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. His sculpture expressed emotion, pathos and drama, setting it apart from the more classical and academic sculpture of the Style Louis XIV.

Wikipedia: Pierre Puget (EN)

The Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian arts, located on the second floor of the Old Charity in the 2nd arrondissement of Marseille, presents works exclusively devoted to works by African, Oceanian and Amerindian continents. On the first floor of the building is the Museum of Mediterranean Archeology. The Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian arts reconciles the observation of exposed objects with scientific information on men and societies. There are, in particular, masks from large collections, made up during the 20th century, and which participated in the first exhibitions of these extra-European arts, during the years 1930-1935, associated with the renewal of looks and First ethnographic, ethnological and anthropological studies on these cultures, parallel to modern art. With the Mexican popular arts, the bright colors and the fantastic are everywhere, a fantastic art that inspired many artists and poets in the 20th century and even today.

Wikipedia: Musée des arts africains, océaniens et amérindiens (FR), Website

The Cosquer Cave is located in the Calanque de Morgiou in Marseille, France, near Cap Morgiou. The entrance to the cave is located 37 m (121 ft) underwater, due to the Holocene sea level rise. The cave contains various prehistoric rock art engravings. Its submarine entrance was discovered in 1985 by Henri Cosquer, a professional diver. The underwater passage leading to the cave was progressively explored until 1990 by cave divers without the divers being aware of the archaeological character of the cave. It is only in the last period (1990-1991) of the progressive underwater explorations that the cave divers emerged in the non-submerged part of the cave. The prehistoric paintings were not immediately discovered by the divers to first emerge from the other side of the sump. The cave was named after Henri Cosquer, when its existence was made public in 1991, after three divers became lost in the cave and died.

Wikipedia: Cosquer Cave (EN)

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Marseille is one of the minor basilicas of the Roman Catholic Church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. It is located in Marseille on the Avenue du Prado, in the Rouet district, in the 8th arrondissement. Built in the first half of the 20th century in Romano-Byzantine style, it was consecrated on 5 May 1947 by Cardinal Roques, Archbishop of Rennes, and then erected as a minor basilica on 17 September 1997 by Pope John Paul II. The building was built to commemorate the plague of 1720 and serve as a memorial to the First World War.

Wikipedia: Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Marseille (FR)

L'Estaque Station is a French railway station on the Paris-Lyon to Marseille-Saint-Charles line, located in the 16th arrondissement at the northwest end of Marseille city, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It owes its name to the Marseille district it serves, made famous by Paul Cézanne and his painter friends from the 1880s to 1910. The station of L'Estaque being located quite high on the hill, it gave its name to this part of the village: L'Estaque-Gare, the lower part being named L'Estaque-Plage.

Wikipedia: Gare de L'Estaque (FR)

Notre-Dame de la Galline is a historic Roman Catholic chapel in the 16th arrondissement of Marseille, France. An ancient church was built in the 4th century, and subsequently rededicated in 1042. By the 18th century, the entrance of the current building was erected, and the church building was rebuilt in 1845–1850, when a Mass was conducted. Church-goers visited the church to pray for the rain to come down, or for the end of the plague. Meanwhile, the bell turret was built in the 1870s. The whole building was restored in the 1980s.

Wikipedia: Notre-Dame de la Galline (EN)

The Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean (MUCEM) is a national museum located in Marseille. It was inaugurated by President François Hollande on June 7, 2013, while Marseille is the European capital of culture. MUCEM constitutes a lasting element of state policy for the benefit of the Marseille-Provence territory. His project dates back to the late 1990s since it was launched by the Jospin government. The construction of the building is entrusted to the French architect Rudy Ricciotti.

Wikipedia: Mucem (FR), Website

The Marseille tide gauge is a tide gauge set up in 1883 at number 174 of the Corniche in Marseille, in Anse Calvo. The goal is to determine an origin of altitudes for continental France. The measurements were made continuously from January 1, 1884 to December 31, 1896, over 13 years. On January 1, 1897, the arithmetic average of all the measurements made during these thirteen years determined the mean sea level at this place. This mean level has been adopted as the French reference zero altitude.

Wikipedia: Marégraphe de Marseille (FR)

The Muséum d’histoire naturel de Marseille, also known in English as the Natural History Museum of Marseille, is one of the most visited natural history museums in France. It was founded in 1819 by Jean-Baptiste, marquis de Montgrand and Christophe de Villeneuve-Bargemon, prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. It is located in the Palais Longchamp, 4th arrondissement of Marseille, built according to the plans of Henri-Jacques Espérandieu.

Wikipedia: Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille (EN), Website

The Roux hotel in Corse is a building located 13 rue Montgrand in the 6th arrondissement of Marseille, in France. This building built around 1745 is the former mansion of the Roux Marseille shipowner in Corsica. Sold in the city of Marseille in 1805, he first served as a residence at the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, then sheltered in 1891 a high school for young girls. The building is now integrated into the Montgrand high school.

Wikipedia: Hôtel Roux de Corse (FR)

Château Saint-Antoine is a large bastide located in the 11th arrondissement of Marseille. The bastide was bought in 1907 by the Commander Count of Robien, who extended it and gave it its current name. It is also present in everyone's mind through Marcel Pagnol's Castle of My Mother. In 2017, it was bought by the Grand Lodge of France, which completely rehabilitates it and transforms it into a Masonic temple.

Wikipedia: Château Saint-Antoine (FR)

The church of Notre-Dame-des-Accoules is a former medieval collegiate church located in the Accoules district of Marseille, razed to the ground during the Revolution with the exception of the bell tower, which is now classified as a historical monument. In 1820, a crypt and a Calvary were built in front of the back wall of the destroyed church. In 1824, a new church was built to the right of the Calvary.

Wikipedia: Église Notre-Dame-des-Accoules (FR)

The Saint-Nicolas de Myre church is the oldest eastern church in Marseille and France, it has been, since its inauguration in 1822, the witness of eastern immigration to Marseille and two originalities, its architecture with its arrangement and its Eastern decor. It is the first church of the Greek-Catholic Church Melkite. The divine liturgy, by Byzantine rite is celebrated there in Arabic and French.

Wikipedia: Église Saint-Nicolas-de-Myre de Marseille (FR)

The Museum of Mediterranean Archeology, which is on the first floor of the old charity in Marseille, brings together two departments: Egyptian antiquities and classic antiquities. The regional archeology which occupied another room was transferred to the Marseille History Museum to the Stock Exchange Center. On the second floor of the old charity is the Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian arts.

Wikipedia: Musée d'archéologie méditerranéenne (FR), Website

The Regards de Provence Museum is a museum created in Marseille in 2013 by the Regards de Provence Foundation in the former sanitary station of the port of Marseille. Its collection, built up by private patrons, consists of 850 works of art from the modern era to the present day, brought together to promote the artistic and cultural heritage of Marseille, Provence and the Mediterranean.

Wikipedia: Musée Regards de Provence (FR), Website

Les caves Saint-Sauveur is an underground building located in the 2nd arrondissement of Marseille, France. The cellars are located under the Place de Lenche, on the site of the former abbey of the nuns of Saint-Sauveur. The complex was classified as a historical monument in 1840. There are no exterior remains, as the remaining foundations have been backfilled.

Wikipedia: Caves Saint-Sauveur (FR)

The Église Saint-Louis is a historic Roman Catholic church in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille, France. It was designed in the Bauhaus architectural style by Jean-Louis Sourdeau, with additional sculptures designed by Carlo Sarrabezoles. Its construction was completed in 1935. It has been listed as an official historical monument since December 14, 1989.

Wikipedia: Église Saint-Louis (EN)

The Grands-Carmes church is located in the 2nd arrondissement of Marseille in place of the same name which is between the places Jules-Guesde and Sadi-Carnot, on a mound to which it gave its name. It was classified as a historic monument by decree of January 20, 1983 for its interior and inscribed historic monument for its facades and roofs on the same date.

Wikipedia: Église des Grands-Carmes (Marseille) (FR)

The cave of the aygalades or the carmelier cave is one of the first locations of the Carmelite Congregation in France. It is located in the northern districts of Marseille, overlooking the A7 motorway to the viste. It has been the subject of a classification as historic monuments since August 31, 1992 and an inscription since September 2, 1994.

Wikipedia: Grotte-ermitage des Aygalades (FR)

Located in the 13th arrondissement of Marseille, 2 km north-west of the town of Château-Gombert, the Baume Loubière was discovered in 1829 by J. Simonet. It is also called the Loubière Cave or the Loubière Caves, Loubière can be written with or without an "s". The Chaîne de l'Etoile, where the cave is located, is rich in prehistoric sites.

Wikipedia: Baume Loubière (FR)

Fort Saint-Jean is a fortification in Marseille, built in 1660 by Louis XIV at the entrance to the Old Port. Since 2013, it has been linked by two foot-bridges to the historical district Le Panier and to the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations; the latter being the first French national museum to be located outside Paris.

Wikipedia: Fort Saint-Jean (Marseille) (EN)

The Saint-Cannat church, located at Place des Préachers in Marseille, near the bottom of the rue de la République, was founded by the preaching brothers, the order of Saint Dominique. It is dedicated to Saint Cannat, bishop of Marseille around 486, including a locality of the department bears the name. Celebrates October 15.

Wikipedia: Église Saint-Cannat (FR)

The Memorial to King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou is a monument located in the 6th arrondissement of Marseille, France, commemorating the assassination of King Alexander I and Louis Barthou. It is the work of the architect Gaston Castel and the sculptors Antoine Sartorio, Louis Botinelly and Élie-Jean Vézien.

Wikipedia: Monument commémoratif au roi Alexandre Ier de Yougoslavie et à Louis Barthou (FR)

The Château Borély is a chateau in the southern part of Marseille, France. Associated with Borély park and Marseille Borély golf course, it has been listed as a historical monument since 1936, and has housed the Museum of Decorative Arts, Earthenware and Fashion since Marseille-Provence 2013 with its rich original decor.

Wikipedia: Château Borély (EN)

The Great Plague of Marseille, also known as the Plague of Provence, was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Western Europe. Arriving in Marseille, France, in 1720, the disease killed over 100,000 people: 50,000 in the city during the next two years and another 50,000 to the north in surrounding provinces and towns.

Wikipedia: Great Plague of Marseille (EN)

The oppidum of Baou de Saint-Marcel is a Segobrige fortified Celto-Ligurian dwelling site, founded in the first quarter of the 6th century BC. J. -C. and abandoned in the last quarter of the 2nd century BC. J. -C. is located in the Saint-Marcel district in the 11th arrondissement of Marseille.

Wikipedia: Oppidum des Baou de Saint-Marcel (FR)

The Housing Unit of Marseille-also known as the Radiant City of Marseille, Cité Radieuse, Le Corbusier or more familiarly La Maison du Fada-is a residence built between 1947 and 1952 by the architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret- Gris, better known by the pseudonym of Le Corbusier (1887-1965).

Wikipedia: Cité radieuse de Marseille (FR)

The Palais Longchamp is a monument in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille, France. It houses the Musée des beaux-arts and Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille. The surrounding Longchamp Park is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the Notable Gardens of France.

Wikipedia: Palais Longchamp (EN), Website

The Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille is one of the main museums in the city of Marseille, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It occupies a wing of the Palais Longchamp, and displays a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 16th to 19th centuries.

Wikipedia: Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille (EN), Website, Flickr

The Cathedral of the Holy Traducors of Marseille, also called the Saint-Sahak and Saint-Mesrob church in reference to Sahak Le Parthe and Mesrop Machtots, is a religious building of the Armenian Apostolic Church located in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille.

Wikipedia: Cathédrale des Saints-Traducteurs de Marseille (FR)

The Maison de l'Aldové de Cabre, also called Hôtel de Cabre, is the oldest existing house in Marseille. It is located at the corner of rue de la Bonquery and Grand-Rue, in the 2nd arrondissement. It should not be confused with the Aix-en-Provence hotel.

Wikipedia: Hôtel de Cabre (FR)

The Oppidum de Verduron is an oppidum in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille, Southern France. It was built in the Iron Age. It was discovered in 1906, but not fully excavated until 1911. It has been listed as a historical monument since 24 August 2004.

Wikipedia: Oppidum de Verduron (EN)

The Bastide de Tour Sainte is the eastern part of the former Domaine de Tour Sainte created in the 1850s by Amédée Armand, an industrialist from Marseille. It borders the Chemin des Bessons, on the even-numbered side, in the Sainte-Marthe district.

Wikipedia: Bastide de Tour Sainte (FR)

"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin".

Wikipedia: La Marseillaise (EN)

Cosquer Méditerranée is an interpretation center located at the Villa Méditerranée, in Marseille, in the Bouches-du-Rhône. Open to the public on June 4, 2022, it houses a partial replica of the Cosquer cave and its most striking parietal works.

Wikipedia: Cosquer_Méditerranée (FR), Website

The Calanque de Sormiou is the biggest calanque of the Calanques National Park, France. Located in the 9th arrondissement of Marseille, it is famous for its climbing spots. Access by car is restricted in the summer due to the risk of forest fires.

Wikipedia: Calanque de Sormiou (EN)

The Sainte-Marie-Madeleine des Chartreux church is place Edmond-Audran in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille. Before being a parish church, this church was the chapel of a monastery of the Chartreux order which gave its name to the district.

Wikipedia: Église des Chartreux de Marseille (FR)

French submarine Alose (Q33) (“Shad”) is a Naïade-class submarine of the Romazotti type. She was built for the French Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. Alose remained in service until just prior to the outbreak of World War I.

Wikipedia: French submarine Alose (1904) (EN)

The Maison du Figaro is a historic building in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille in France. It was designed by architect Pierre Pavillon, and it was completed in 1675. It has been listed as an official historical monument since 1992.

Wikipedia: Maison du Figaro (EN)

Fort Saint-Nicolas is a strong overlooking the old port of Marseille. It was built from 1660 to 1664 by the knight of Clerville on the orders of Louis XIV in order to watch the spirit of independence of the city of Marseille.

Wikipedia: Fort Saint-Nicolas (Marseille) (FR)

The Hôtel Louvre et Paix is a historic building in Marseille, France. Dedicated in 1863 as a luxury hotel, it was used by the Kriegsmarine during World War II. It now houses city administration offices and a C&A store.

Wikipedia: Hôtel Louvre et Paix (EN)

The Hôtel Daviel is a building built in Marseille between 1743 and 1747 by the Gérard brothers. It is named after the surgeon and ophthalmologist Jacques Daviel, who went to Marseille during the plague of 1720.

Wikipedia: Hôtel Daviel (FR)

The Gaston Castel House is a personal house built by the architect Gaston Castel in 1924. Located in the Cinq-Avenues district, in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille, France, it was sold at auction in 1989.

Wikipedia: Maison Gaston Castel (FR)

The CEPAC Silo is a concert hall in Marseille inaugurated in 2011 and located in Euroméditerranée, a district of the 2nd arrondissement. It used to be a former industrial building in the city of Marseille.

Wikipedia: Le Silo (FR)

The Water Sharing Pavilion in the falls-Lavie, also called Le Tore, by reference to the architectural nomenclature, is a classified civil engineering building belonging to the city of Marseille, in France.

Wikipedia: Pavillon de partage des eaux des Chutes-Lavie (FR)

The monumental staircase of Marseille-Saint-Charles train station, which gives direct access to the boulevard d'Athens, was inaugurated by the President of the Republic Gaston Doumergue on 24 April 1927.

Wikipedia: Escalier monumental de la gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles (FR)

The Church of the Mission of France is a church built in the late 17th century and renovated in the 19th century. It is located at 44 rue du Carpis-Vert, in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille, France.

Wikipedia: Église de la mission de France (FR)