Marseille: 18th & 19th Century Guided Walking Tour｜France

Begin your journey at the Palais de la Bourse, the heart of 19th-century Marseille’s power. Admire its neoclassical façade with sculptures representing trade, industry, navigation, and colonization. Learn how Marseille negotiated with the world from this building, from Alexandria to Saigon.

Next, stroll along La Canebière, Marseille’s answer to the Champs-Élysées. Discover its history as a place of promenade, cafés, and theaters. Hear anecdotes about the Hôtel Noailles, frequented by Churchill and Sarah Bernhardt, and learn about the 1938 fire and reconstruction.

Continue to the Théâtre des Bernardines, a former 17th-century convent transformed into a theater in the 19th century. Learn about the democratization of culture in Marseille through this alternative artistic venue.

Visit the Église des Réformés, a neo-Gothic church built between 1855 and 1888. Discover its history as a symbol of the 19th-century bourgeoisie’s religious fervor and hear why it’s often called “Notre-Dame de la Canebière.”

Stop at the Fontaine des Danaïdes, a tribute to beauty, abundance, and the arrival of water in Marseille. Sculpted in 1893, it represents the mythological Danaïdes, condemned to fill endlessly leaking jars. Learn about the hydraulic challenge Marseille faced and the arrival of water from the Durance via the Canal de Marseille.

See the Musée Grobet-Labadié from outside, a Second Empire-style mansion built in 1873. Learn about Marie Grobet-Labadié’s cultural patronage and her bequest of the house to the city in 1919.

Finally, arrive at the Palais Longchamp, a palace built to celebrate the arrival of water from the Durance. Admire its monumental water tower, sculptures of lions and tigers, and French gardens. Learn about its architect, Henry Espérandieu, and its two wings housing the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts.