Château d'If and the forts of Marseille

Description

The Château d'If was built under François I and is one of the most popular tourist attractions for its panoramic views over the harbour of Marseille. For a long time, the people of Marseille saw it as the first arbitrary attempt by the royal power to control their once autonomous city, even before Henry IV built the Frioul forts and Louis XIV the Saint-Jean and Saint-Nicolas forts. It is a little-known monument, archaic in its still medieval forms but modern in its role in defending the kingdom's coasts. The prison function took precedence over the military role very early on: for three centuries, the château was used as a prison for famous and anonymous guests alike. And since Dumas and The Count of Monte Cristo, it has been the place par excellence of a literary myth whose identity is now charged with an imaginary reality.