Military Fort in Marseille

Le Frioul, le Château d’If, on connaît. Degaby, on imagine. The boldest have swum around it. They have dived from the top of its stairs. They have been frightened by the narrow submerged passage that leads to its famous cave. They have caught fish like this there.

But few are those who have had the chance to discover what the walls hide: A military fort, whose construction was ordered by Louis XIV to defend the Marseille harbor. It was modified at the end of the 19th century and kept its military vocation until the 1920s, when the state sold it to a Marseille industrialist. The latter gave it the name of his wife, Liane Degaby, a famous Parisian artist of the time. She organizes on the island memorable parties, but she distances herself when its interior, carefully decorated, is vandalized.

The islet then passes from hand to hand in accordance with the aborted dreams and unfinished projects it inspires in its successive owners. In recent years it has been used as a venue for private events such as weddings or conferences, but the public has never been able to enter freely. Until today!