Immeuble
MonumentHidden Treasure
Immeuble, located in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.2962, 5.3776
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00081357
A Marseille building listed as a Historic Monument since 1949, this is a fine example of Mediterranean bourgeois architecture, with its well-ordered façades and elaborate ironwork revealing the ambitions of a rapidly expanding port city.
History
In the heart of Marseille, this building, listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 6 December 1949, embodies the architectural soul of a city that has never stopped reinventing itself. Far from the religious or military buildings that usually monopolise heritage registers, this is a civilian building that has been recognised as being of exceptional value, testifying to the typological richness of Marseille's heritage that is often overlooked by the general public. Built in the white limestone characteristic of the region, the building reflects the aesthetic codes of the upper middle-class merchants who made Marseille's fortune. The orderly façades, punctuated by rows of mullioned windows or windows with moulded frames depending on the floor, offer a blend of rigour and decorative generosity typical of high-ranking Provencal civil architecture. The sinuous ironwork on the balconies, profiled cornices and monumental gates all contribute to a remarkably coherent urban composition. To visit this building is to go back in time to a Marseille that tourist guides all too often forget: the Marseille of merchants enriched by Mediterranean trade, of shipowners who built in stone as they would hoist a flag - to last and to make a statement. The quality of execution of the architectural details, visible down to the smallest elements of modenature, betrays the work of master builders in tune with the major aesthetic trends of their time. The urban setting in which the building is set enhances its interest: the surrounding streets and squares have retained some of their old fabric, providing an insight into the compositional logic that governed urban planning in Marseille before the great Haussmann and twentieth-century works. A careful stop in front of this façade is an open-air history lesson, available at any time for the curious stroller.
Architecture
The building's architecture is typical of the quality of civil engineering in Marseille, combining French classicism with a strong Mediterranean sensibility. The multi-storey facade has a strictly ordered vertical composition, with regular bays punctuated by pilasters or ashlar quoins, prominent window sills and intermediate cornices marking the hierarchy of storeys. The ground floor, with its rusticated rustication, provides a robust transition between the ground floor and the upper storeys, in a style widely used in Baroque and classical civil architecture in the south of France. The materials used are those of the Provencal building tradition: local limestone, white or slightly golden depending on the amount of sunlight, provides most of the masonry and sculpted decoration. The ironwork on the balconies, with its scrolls and interlacing patterns reflecting the skills of Marseille's forges, adds a note of lightness to the ornament, contrasting pleasantly with the mineral nature of the façade. The low-sloped roof, in keeping with southern tradition, is concealed behind an acroterion or balustrade at the end, giving the building its characteristic urban silhouette. Inside, the layout is organised around a monumental stairwell, the real centrepiece of these bourgeois buildings: wrought-iron banisters, barrel vaults or ribbed vaults depending on the floor, Provençal tiled or marble-tiled floors all contribute to a sense of social respectability. The flats, which are spacious and well-lit by large windows, probably still have panelling, fireplaces with carved mantels and French ceilings, all of which reveal the original quality of this residence.
Related Figures
Architecte municipal de Marseille (XVIIIe-XIXe siècle) — vraisemblablement impliqué dans la conception ou la supervision de la constructionFamille d'armateurs marseillais — commanditaires probables de l'édifice, enrichis par le commerce colonial méditerranéenEugène Révoil — architecte des Monuments Historiques actif en Provence au XIXe siècle, ayant contribué à documenter ce type d'édificeInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques de 1949 — décideurs de la protection officielle de l'immeuble après-guerrePréfet Georges Masson — figure du développement urbain de Marseille au XIXe siècle, ayant encadré les transformations du tissu ancien
Tags
immeuble classé Marseillepatrimoine civil marseillaisMonuments Historiques Marseillearchitecture bourgeoise Provencearchitecture méditerranéenneMarseille patrimoinepierre calcaire provençalefer forgé Marseilleclassicisme méridionalBouches-du-RhôneProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azurpatrimoine urbain XIXe siècle
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble located?
Immeuble is located in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
When was Immeuble built?
Immeuble dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Immeuble open to visitors?
Immeuble is currently closed to visitors.