A focal point of tourism for

its panorama over the Marseille

roadstead, the Château d'If

was built during François I's

reign. The inhabitants of

Marseille long considered it

to be a first, arbitrary attempt by the monarchy

to control their formerly independent city, even

before the Frioul forts were built by Henri IV

and above all Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Saint-Nicolas

by Louis XIV. It is a little-appreciated

monument, archaic in its still medieval form,

but modern in its role in the defence of the

kingdom's coastline. Its function as a prison

pushed its military role into the shade at an

early date: for three hundred years, the castle

served as a prison for both the famous and the

unknown. Last but not least, since Dumas and

The Count of Monte Cristo , it is pre-eminently

the site of a literary myth, its identity laden

with an imaginary reality.

The "Itinéraires" series, designed as a guide

for cultural tourism, invites the visitor

to discover the highroads and byways

of France's national heritage.