This is an old fortress/prison set on the island of If a few kilometres from the main port of Marseille.
While the fortress has been on the island since the 16th century, its main claim to fame is as the place of imprisonment of the fictional inmate Edmond Dantès, the hero of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Montecristo.

Only 20 minutes by boat from Quai des Belges in the old port of Marseille.

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Inside the beautiful Vieux Charite building is a small but fascinating archaeology museum with an excellent Egyptian collection and lots of pottery finds from around the Mediterranean.

Upstairs (separate entrance fee) there are collections of Mexican folk art and masks from Africa and the Pacific. When we visited on a Saturday in August the museum was virtually deserted.

In the courtyard there is an open air cafe which serves good salads and other lunchtime dishes at reasonable prices (although service is a bit hit and miss) - it's worth visiting for this alone if you are sightseeing in the Panier district.

2 rue de la Charite +33 4 91 14 58 80

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This was an area of industrial wasteland with some falling down buildings that has been converted into one of the cultural and artistic centres of Marseille.

It hosts exhibitions, concerts, film projections, dance shows, theatre performances, lectures, debates, recording studios and a restaurant.

There is something interesting on pretty much every day and it's not usually that expensive.

www.lafriche.org
41, rue jobin, 13003 Marseille.

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