This wildly romantic island fortress, its thick towers and crenellated walls looming in the sea spray just off Marseille's coast, is the stuff of history—and legend. François I, in the 16th century, recognized the strategic advantage of an island fortress surveying the mouth of Marseille's vast harbor, so he had one built. Its effect as deterrent was so successful, it never saw combat and was eventually converted to a prison. It was here that Alexandre Dumas locked up his most famous character, the Count of Monte Cristo. Though he was fictional, the hole Dumas had him escape through is real enough, and it's visible in the cell today. (By contrast, the real-life Man in the Iron Mask, whose cell is still being shown, was not actually imprisoned here.) As you walk from cell to cell, each labeled for the noble (or ignoble) prisoner it held, video monitors replay scenes from film versions of the Dumas tale, including the Count's Houdini-like underwater escape from a body bag thrown from the tower. Even the jaded and castle-weary will find themselves playing nightwatch from the ramparts. The boat ride (from the Quai des Belges, EUR 10) and the views from the broad terrace alone are worth the trip.
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