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Château d'If

The Château d'If in Marseille is a fortress (later a prison) located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago.

It is situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France.

It is famous as the setting of Alexandre Dumas' adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo.

The château is a square, three-story building 28 m long on each side, flanked by three towers with large gun embrasures. The remainder of the island, which only measures 30,000 square meters, is heavily fortified; high ramparts with gun platforms surmount the island's cliffs.

The Chateau d'If from a boat

Fortress    

It was built in 1524–1531 on the orders of King François I as a defense against attacks from the sea. However, its construction was extremely controversial. When Marseille was annexed to France in 1481, it retained the right to provide for its own defense.

The castle was therefore seen by many of the local inhabitants as an unwanted imposition of central authority.

Prison    

The Château d'If's isolated location and dangerous offshore currents made it an ideal escape-proof prison, very much like the island of Alcatraz in California. Its use as a dumping ground for political and religious detainees soon made it one of the most feared and notorious jails in France.

The Château d'If's isolated location and dangerous offshore currents made it an ideal escape-proof prison, very much like the island of Alcatraz in California. Its use as a dumping ground for political and religious detainees soon made it one of the most feared and notorious jails in France.

Over 3,500 Huguenots (French Protestants) were sent to If, as was Gaston Crémieux, a leader of the Paris Commune, who was shot there in 1871. The island became internationally famous in the 19th century when Alexandre Dumas, père, used it as a setting for The Count of Monte Cristo, published to widespread acclaim in 1844.

The château today    

The château's use as a prison was terminated at the end of the 19th century. It was demilitarized and opened to the public in 1890. It can now be reached by boat from Marseille's old port. Its fame as the setting for Dumas' novel has made it a popular tourist destination.

Credits : This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Marseille".