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The Palais du Pharo: imperial panorama and republican winds
At the tip of Marseille’s Old Port, the Palais du Pharo draws the eye far more than Fort Saint-Nicolas, seeming almost to float on the Mediterranean. This sober yet elegant building, today owned by the City, was originally an ambitious imperial project. In 1855, Napoleon III, captivated by the beauty of the harbor and Marseille’s energy, accepted the land offered by the municipality in gratitude for his active support in the city’s development. Under his reign, Marseille underwent a true urban transformation: renovation of the Hôtel-Dieu, modernization of the Joliette port, construction of the Palais de la Bourse… The city dreamed of becoming the capital of the South.

The emperor wished to build a seaside residence for his wife Eugénie, with “her feet in the water.” Inspired by the Villa Eugénie in Biarritz, the Palais du Pharo was designed in the classical style of the Second Empire—entirely in stone, oriented to withstand the Mistral. Yet the construction lagged behind schedule, slowed by the steep terrain, the complexity of the plans, shortages of materials, and ever-growing ambition.

The palace’s construction deeply altered the military site. Civilian access to the imperial residence led to the division of the Saint-Nicolas citadel, which once covered the entire headland. This imposing bastion, built by Louis XIV as much to watch over the Marseillais as to defend the harbor, was split by a boulevard leading to the palace. The fort continued its activities: one part retained its military architecture, while the other was opened up for republican promenades.

When the Empire collapsed in 1870, the palace was still unfinished, unfurnished, and had never been lived in. Neither Napoleon III nor Eugénie ever stayed there. In a surge of anger and political revenge, the people of Marseille seized the building, destroyed its imperial symbols—Napoleonic eagles, “N” monograms, crowns—and reclaimed this prestigious site, now stripped of its representative function.

The fate of the Pharo then changed. Returned to Eugénie, the palace was donated to the City in 1884, on condition that it remain in public use. It became a medical school, then a conference center. Today, it hosts seminars, cultural events, and concerts, though it remains closed to the general public outside these occasions. The building belongs more to the sphere of “major gatherings” than to imperial splendor.

The Pharo gardens, on the other hand, are open to everyone. With 5.7 hectares of lawns, wind-sculpted trees, and paths lined with pines, they are a prime spot for a stroll, a picnic, or a quiet moment of contemplation. The view is exceptional: in a single glance you can take in the harbor entrance, Fort Saint-Jean, the cathedral of La Major, the Mucem, the commercial port, the Frioul islands… and towering above, the protective silhouette of Notre-Dame de la Garde.

The Mistral often blows hard across the plateau: you need a good jacket, as even the sturdiest hairdos don’t survive. Yet it is precisely this wind, this light, this open horizon that give the place its charm.

Thus, the Palais du Pharo embodies the paradoxes of Marseille: an imperial project turned public asset, a place of prestige transformed into a popular site, a symbol of fallen power reborn as a space of freedom and vistas. It is one of the rare places where you feel both the weight of history and the lightness of the wind.

The name of the Palais du Pharo comes from the Provençal word farot (from the Latin pharus, “lighthouse”), recalling the strategic role of the hill on which it stands, once used to monitor and secure the entrance to the port of Marseille.

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