Description

A focal point of tourism for
its panorama over the Marseille
roadstead, the Château d'If
was built during François I's
reign. The inhabitants of
Marseille long considered it
to be a first, arbitrary attempt by the monarchy
to control their formerly independent city, even
before the Frioul forts were built by Henri IV
and above all Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Saint-Nicolas
by Louis XIV. It is a little-appreciated
monument, archaic in its still medieval form,
but modern in its role in the defence of the
kingdom's coastline. Its function as a prison
pushed its military role into the shade at an
early date: for three hundred years, the castle
served as a prison for both the famous and the
unknown. Last but not least, since Dumas and
The Count of Monte Cristo, it is pre-eminently
the site of a literary myth, its identity laden
with an imaginary reality.

The "Itinéraires" series, designed as a guide
for cultural tourism, invites the visitor
to discover the highroads and byways
of France's national heritage.