The Palais Longchamp
In 1869, Henry Espérandieu finished erecting a water castle to commemorate the arrival in Marseille of the waters of la Durance with on one side and the other a semi-circular colonnade and waterfalls.
The famous animal sculptor, Antoine Louis Barye, and Jules Cavelier have produced external sculptures.
On the same site are to be found :
- The Fine Arts museum which is currently closed due to works.
- The Natural History Museum (classed as best museum in France in 2002) is open from 10 am to 5pm from Tuesday to Sunday.
- A botanical and zoological park which has kept its name, even though there are no more animals there, is open every day.
-The astronomical observatory, which can be found higher up the park, is the oldest scientific establishment in Marseille. It is open to the public on Wednesday afternoons (from 2 pm to 5.30 pm) and during school holidays from Monday to Saturday in the afternoon, regularly offers broadcasts on astronomy and accommodates a very beautiful room full of ancient instruments. It is the « Andromeda » association which organises the exhibitions, conferences and sky observations along with planetarium sessions in a planetarium 6 metres in diameter.
Information :
1, Boulevard Phillipon and Boulevard du Jardin Zoologique, 13004 Marseille
Fine Arts Museum : Tel : 04 91 14 59 25
Natural History Museum : Tel : 04 91 14 59 50
Astronomical Observatory : Tel : 04 86 67 21 03
Underground : Cinq Avenue Longchamp (ligne 1)- Tramway : Longchamp
Photo : Copyright OTCM
