51 galleries · 20 museums

Art and heritage in Marseille

The best museums, art galleries and heritage sites to visit in Marseille.

01 — Museums

Museums in Marseille

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Le Musée du Savon de Marseille

The Marseille Soap Museum, established in Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône, is dedicated to the history and production of traditional Marseille soap. Operated by the Savonnerie de la Licorne, a family-run manufacturing business headed by Serge Bruna, a master soap maker, the museum offers an immersion in artisanal production techniques that have remained unchanged for over a century. Visitors can discover the stages of soap making from vegetable oils, from granite grinding to manual shaping or molding. The museum also offers the opportunity to personalize and create your own soap. It is accompanied by a shop located at the Old Port and is part of a living heritage and cultural tourism initiative.

25 Quai de Rive Neuve

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Muséum d'histoire naturelle de la Ville de Marseille

Founded in 1819, the Marseille Natural History Museum is located in the right wing of the Palais Longchamp. It presents collections of natural curiosities and heritage items, reflecting Marseille's geographical position at the crossroads of European and Mediterranean natural spaces. Its permanent collections, with free admission, include notably dinosaur skeletons, mammal specimens, and natural science objects. The museum also offers temporary exhibitions and regularly organizes free nature outings to discover local biodiversity. Open Tuesday to Sunday, it is a major institution in the network of municipal museums in Marseille.

Palais Longchamp, Rue Espérandieu

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Musée d'histoire de la Ville de Marseille

The Marseille History Museum is a site museum that was completely renovated in 2013, located near the Old Port. Built on the archaeological site of the Ancient Port in the 1st district of Marseille, it presents a permanent exhibition of approximately 3,500 m² comprising nearly 3,000 works. The museum traces the 26 centuries of existence of France's oldest city through its collections and temporary exhibitions. It emphasizes the archaeology and urban history of Marseille. Access to the permanent collections is free, as well as admission to temporary exhibitions upon their opening and on the first Sunday of each month.

2 Rue Henri Barbusse

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Musée Cantini de la Ville de Marseille

The Cantini Museum is housed in a private mansion built in 1694, located in the heart of Marseille. It originated from the bequest of Jules Cantini, a Marseille sculptor and marble worker, who donated his collection to the city in 1916. The museum's permanent collections cover European avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century, with particular emphasis on Fauvism, early Cubist experiments, and post-Cubist and Purist currents of the 1920s-1940s, represented by artists such as Derain, Dufy, Léger and Le Corbusier. It offers both a free permanent collection for all and temporary exhibitions. The museum continues its mission as a resource center for modern and contemporary art within Marseille's museum offerings.

19 Rue Grignan

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Musée des arts décoratifs, de la faïence et de la mode de la Ville de Marseille

Château Borély is a museum of decorative arts, earthenware, and fashion located in Marseille, in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur. An 18th-century building constructed around 1760-1770 as a summer residence for the Borély family, the château was acquired by the City of Marseille in 1856 and long housed the Museum of Archaeology before its transformation in 2013. The museum presents varied collections spanning from the 18th century to the present day: ceramics, furniture, glassware, tapestries, art objects, design, and fashion. Its Provençal architecture, marked by the sobriety of the exterior building, contrasts with the richness of its interior fittings where original décor dialogues with contemporary museography. A gallery dedicated to fashion showcases creations by renowned couturiers and emerging designers in a regularly refreshed display.

132 Av. Clot Bey

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02 — Galleries