Marseilles - Surroundings

About 2km/1.25mi southwest of Marseilles, the fortified rock island in the Bay of Marseilles with its Château d'If is famous on account of the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1844-45) by Alexandre Dumas the Elder. The fortress, built in 1524, was once used as a prison. There is a fine view from the top of the cliff.

On the northern edge of Marseilles, at the end of the Place des Héros, with its rows of plane trees, stands the Château Gombert. Here is housed the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires du Terroir Marseillais, a collection of Provençal art in the house of a pupil of Mistral.

About 1.5km/1mi northwest of Marseilles, at the Massif de l'Etoile is the Loubière Grotto, a cave system with impressive karst phenomena.

West of the Château d'If lie the two fairly large islands of Ratonneau and Pomègues, linked by a causeway which encloses the Port de Frioul (yacht harbor; quarantine station). Farther out to sea can be seen the little island of Le Planier.

From the Anse de l'Estaque in the north of the bay outside Marseilles the Rove Canal used to run in a tunnel under the Chaîne de l'Estaque to the Etang de Berre. 22m/72ft wide and 15.4m/50ft high it was the tunnel with the largest cross-section and ships with a draught of up to 4.5m/14ft could use the 7km/4mi long canal. In 1963 it collapsed and has since been closed. From the N568 a path under the railroad line leads to the tunnel entrance.