The history of Fort Saint-Jean

The Galerie des Officiers invites us to take a visual stroll through the history of this Marseilles fortress. From the founding of Massalia to the opening of the Mucem, this tour shows and explains the metamorphoses of the Fort Saint-Jean site, whose history is inseparable from that of Marseille and the Mediterranean basin.

Today, Fort Saint-Jean is a composite whole, with buildings from centuries past intermingling with one another: an ancient site chosen by the Phocaean navigators, two towers built at the entrance to the port, a commandery of the Knights Hospitallers set against the rock, the remains of a church, a rise for the cannons, vaulted passageways, barracks buildings of the Foreign Legion… A veritable architectural mille-feuille that is deconstructed here through films, models and interactive devices presented throughout the rooms of the Galerie des Officiers.

This five-stage chronological tour includes a virtual tour of the Fanal and King René towers, as well as a panorama of artistic representations of the fort through the centuries. The tour concludes in the bowels of the fort, with an immersion into the “corridor of time”, to discover the ultimate secrets of a listed monument whose full historical depth can be experienced in the truest sense of the word.

Curated by Patrick Boulanger, Doctor of History and Cultural Action Advisor, CCI Marseille Provence. With the participation of Myriame Morel-Deledalle, chief curator at Mucem and exhibition curator.