Museums, galleries and heritage in Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône, part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, owes its cultural weight to three towns that developed almost independently: Marseille, France's oldest city and a major Mediterranean port; Aix-en-Provence, the former capital of Provence and birthplace of Paul Cézanne; and Arles, where Roman infrastructure and Van Gogh's brief but intense stay left a permanent mark.

Marseille alone gathers a cluster of civic museums, many built around the 19th-century Palais Longchamp, including the Musée des Beaux Arts de Marseille and the Muséum d'histoire naturelle de la Ville de Marseille, housed in the same building's two wings.

In Marseille, the area around the Vieux-Port concentrates history museums, notably the Musée d'histoire de la Ville de Marseille, built directly on the excavated remains of the ancient port, and the Musée d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne de la Ville de Marseille. Further south, the industrial heritage site Friche de l'escalette occupies a former lead factory along the coastline.

Aix-en-Provence is best explored on foot between the Musée Granet in the old town and the hillside Atelier des Lauves, Cézanne's last studio, a twenty-minute walk north. Contemporary art has its own circuit here, from 3 bis f - Centre d'arts contemporains to the Granet XXe, chapelle des Pénitents blancs.

Arles is compact enough to cover on foot, with Roman and medieval monuments recognised by UNESCO as Arles, monuments romains et romans standing a few streets from the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles and the Musée Réattu, set in a former Grand Priory of the Knights of Malta.

Paul Cézanne was born and worked in Aix-en-Provence, and the town preserves the most direct trace of his practice at the Atelier des Lauves, where his easel, coat and studio props remain in place. Nearby, the Moulin Cézanne in Le Tholonet recalls the countryside he painted repeatedly.

Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles for just over a year, a period that produced some of his best-known canvases; the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles does not hold his original works permanently but pairs contemporary art with pieces on loan that dialogue with his legacy. In the same city, the more recent LEE UFAN ARLES brings the minimalist sculptor and painter's work into a Roman-era setting.