Fort Saint-Jean, Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean

Fort Saint-Jean is a fortification in Marseille, built in 1660 by Louis XIV at the entrance to the Old Port. Since 2013 it has been linked by two foot-bridges to the historical district Le Panier and to the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations; the latter being the first French national museum to be located outside Paris.

The Fort Saint-Jean is named for the commander of the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem established on this spur, extension of the hill of St. Lawrence towards the end of 12th century. It is located in the district of City Hall, in the 2th district. At this location, the remains of the first Greek occupation in the vi th century BC. AD have been discovered.

In the middle of the 15th century, the mighty square tower was built by King René to keep going on the port. The round tower of the lantern was built in 1664. The construction of the fort, required by Louis XIV, was carried out from 1668 to 1671 by the Chevalier de Clerville after the expropriation of the Hospitallers and many houses. On Vauban’s instructions, the digging in 1679 of a large ditch completely isolated it from the city.

During the French Revolution, the fort served as a prison for Philippe Égalité and two of his sons. Jacobins arrested in Marseille and Aubagne will be locked in the fort and massacred on June 5, 1795by royalists. During the Second World War, the German troops there store an ammunition depot whose explosion at the liberation of Marseilles causes the destruction of many old buildings.

Overview
The ancient city site of Marseille founded by the Greeks in the vi th century BC. AD is located north of the Old Port. Inside the ancient ramparts, visible in the vestiges gardens, stand three mounds aligned from south-east to north-west: the Saint-Laurent butte, then that of the mills and finally that of the Carmelites. Currently, there are respectively on these mounds Fort Saint-Jean and the Saint-Laurent church, then Place des Moulins and finally the Carmelite church.

The first hill is made up of two heights on one of which Fort Saint-Jean was built and on the other the Saint-Laurent church. A restitution of the old topography of Fort Saint-Jean was possible thanks to the sounding work carried out by the archaeologists Vasseur in 1908 and Gantés in 1991. This height amounts to 19.76 m NGF and was separated from the second culminating at approximately 26 m NGF by a depression located at 8 m NGF only.

It was in this depression that a ditch was created in 1679 for the protection of the fort, then in 1845 a junction canal between the Old Port and the port of La Joliette and finally the Quai de la Tourette after filling the canal in 1937.

History
Fort Saint-Jean was built on a site earlier occupied by the Military Order of the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John, from which the new building derived its name. Fort Saint-Nicolas was constructed at the same time on the opposite side of the harbour. Commenting on their construction, Two earlier buildings were incorporated into the structure of the fort: the twelfth century Commandry of the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, which served as a monastic hospice during the crusades; and the fifteenth century tower of René I, King of Provence.

Greek occupation phase
The site of Fort Saint-Jean was busy early in the vi th century BC by the Phocaeans. Excavations were undertaken by Vasseur in 1908 during the construction of a barracks located near the lantern tower. This former barracks is currently occupied by the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) and has been called the Georges-Henri Rivière building. The research focused on fifty boreholes drilled for the construction of the building. Found pottery fragments are characteristic of the early Iron Age and date from the first half of the vi th century.

The archaic layers are topped by a sandy level topped with a layer of fill that delivered fragments of Hellenistic ceramics datable to the first half of the ii th century BC. A geotechnical core drilling campaign performed in 1991 near the barracks has uncovered traces of layers of iii th and ii th centuries BC.

The Babon castle
In the viii th and ix th centuries, Marseille is the subject of numerous raids by Saracens and Greek pirates: 736, 739, 838 and 848. Ruined and partially abandoned, the city takes a new face: the inhabitants took refuge in a small fortified built between the entrance to the port and the Place de Lenche. These fortifications are known as Château Babon, after the name of a bishop. According to the historian Joseph-Hyacinthe Albanès, the deacon Babon mentioned in charter 28 of the cartulary of Saint-Victor in 840 would be this future bishop. The castle is built on the top of the hill where the current Saint-Laurent church is located, called in the Middle Ages Saint-Laurent of the Babon castle. In 884 the Saracens landed near Saint-Tropez and ravaged Provence. In 923 they devastate the monastery of Saint-Victor but cannot seize the Babon castle.

The existence of this castle is notably known by a letter from the emperor Frédéric Barberousse datedApril 17, 1164confirming to Bishop Pierre the rights and possessions of the Church of Marseilles, among which he cites the “castellum Babonis”. The layout of this fortification can be roughly reproduced: to the west it follows the shore, and to the east it serves as the boundary between the vicomtale city and the episcopal city; the northern limit is at the current rue Fontaine-des-Vents, near place de Lenche.

The Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem
Military orders, Templars and Hospitallers, appear in Marseille at the end of the 12th century, their installation is linked to the development of trade relations with the East port. The two commanderies are each located at one end of the port of Marseille, that of the Templars is located on the site of the current church of Augustins and that of the Hospitallers at the entrance to the port where Fort Saint-Jean is located.

The Hospitaliers’ commandery was built under the walls of Château Babon . It is mentioned from 1178. In 1202 Pope Innocent III granted the Hospitallers burial rights, which led to a conflict with the Accoules church. At that time the commandery had a great influence, hence the wish of the Count of Provence, Alphonse II to be buried there.

At the beginning of 13th century, the Hospitallers built a single-nave church, called Church of St. John, near the Church of St. Lawrence. It is encompassed in the 16th century within the walls of Fort St. John.

In the middle of the 14th century, the Hospitallers are constructing a new building adjacent to the St. John Tower (currently around René King) along the pass and later called Commander’s Palace. It is in this palace that the cardinals of the papal suite are received when Urbain V came to Marseille in 1365.

After processing the 17th century the palace became one of the most beautiful homes in the city, the only one capable of housing princes and persons of high quality.

The Maubert tower
The harbor defense system is the 12th century concentrated at the port pass. To reach the calm waters of the port, ships must first enter a bay forming an outer harbor located between the pharo and the Butte Saint-Jean / Saint-Laurent. To the east of this bay opens the very narrow pass which gives access to the port. This pass located between the current Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Saint-Nicolas is today 100 m widearound when it was much more shrunk in the Middle Ages. The southern part was obstructed, on a little more than two thirds, by flush rocks preventing any passage of ships. A masonry pillar was built on a high bottom located about thirty meters from the Maubert tower which stood at the site of the tower of King René of Fort Saint-Jean. A chain was stretched between this massif and the Maubert tower to prevent passage to enemy ships. The municipal statutes of Marseille of 1268 forbid boats to drop anchor at this pass.

This tower is also called the chain tower (turris cathene portus). The maintenance of this removable chain and the costs of care are the responsibility of the Count of Provence who often neglects his obligations. The chain is tensioned by means of a capstan placed in the tower: the presence of a winch is indeed mentioned in an inventory of 1302.

This defense system shows itself to be defective during the attack on the city and its sacking by the troops of King Alfonso V of Aragon on November 20, 1423. Indeed, an enemy detachment landed in a cove, the current Catalan cove which took this name for other reasons much later, neutralized the garrison of Fort Saint-Nicolas and opened the passage to the port. The city is taken and pillaged. The port chain which was taken away as a trophy is still on display in the cathedral of Valencia (Spain).

The tower of King René
After the sacking of the city in 1423, the Maubert tower and the ramparts of the commandery of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem threaten ruin. King René decides to build a more important tower built from 1447 to 1452 in place of the Maubert tower: it is the current square tower of Fort Saint-Jean.

Construction was entrusted in 1447 to engineer Jean Pardo and Jean Robert. The costs of the first works amount to 4 322 guilders financed up to 2 000 guilders by the city, 1 200 guilders by the fishermen of the Saint-Jean district who collect during four years a tax on fish and the balance is 1122 guilders by King René. To complete the tower it is necessary to carry out in 1452 a second phase of works for 3,200 guilders financed for 2,000 guilders by the city and 1,200 guilders by the fishermen of Saint-Jean to which the king concedes in perpetuity the property of the calanque de Morgiou with the exclusive right to establish a tuna trap there.

Lantern tower
At the request of Marseille shipowners, the lantern tower was erected in 1644 at the western end of the Saint-Jean promontory. It is built on the site of an old tower completely ruined. The works were awarded to three masons: Beef, Gay and Alluys.

Construction of Fort
From 1655 to 1660, Marseille went through a period of agitation and unrest, and entered into full rebellion, which was intolerable for Louis XIV. The king decides to punish the Marseillais and comes in person to reaffirm his authority. The March 2, 1660 he enters Marseilles through an open breach in the ramparts. In order to remind and impose obedience on Marseillais but also to strengthen the port, two structures are built at the entrance to the port: to the south the citadel of Saint-Nicolas and to the north the fort of Saint-Jean whose enclosure will be supported on the tower of King René and will include the tower of the lantern. An arsenal of galleys will also be built.

The citadel of Saint-Nicolas and the arsenal of galleys are started quickly while the construction of Fort Saint-Jean is slower because it requires the departure of the Hospitallers and the demolition of part of the houses in the neighborhood. Thus the body of fishermen is obliged to sell the King their common home they owned near the church of St. John.

Inside the fort we can distinguish two parts:
to the south, a low, low part, made up of King René’s tower which is preserved as it is and the old commandery which was transformed to serve as accommodation for the first commander of the fort, Henri de Beringhen from 1664. The Church of the Hospitallers is partially covered with embankments;
to the north, an upper part, probably already started when the first president of the parliament Henry de Maynier d’Oppède laid the first stone, on which barracks were built.

These two levels are connected by a tunnel which allows the passage of the guns from the lower part to hoist them to the upper part.

In 1671, on the death of Louis Nicolas de Clerville, the works were practically finished. Vauban, his successor, was appointed in 1677 general commissioner of the fortifications; he came to Marseille in 1679 and considered that the fort’s defense system was insufficient. In the topographic depression mentioned in paragraph 1, it caused a large floodable ditch between Fort Saint-Jean and the Church of Saint-Laurent to be dug. In addition he also built on the other side of the ditch a triangular fortification, called half-moon, located opposite the main entrance of the fort which was at the height of the current death camp memorial.

The revolutionary period

Death of Major de Beausset
The April 30, 1790, the revolutionary crowd decides to invest the Marseilles bastilles: the fort Notre-Dame de la Garde which dominates the city and the forts Saint-Nicolas and Saint-Jean which guard the entrance to the port. If the capture of the first two forts is carried out without any particular problem, it is not the same for Fort Saint-Jean. The Chevalier de Beausset, major of the royal regiment of Vexin who was there garrison, refused to capitulate. The May 2, 1790 wanting to flee, he is recognized and massacred: his head is walked at the end of a fork.

Detention of the princes of Orleans
In 1793, the Duke of Orleans Philippe Égalité, his two sons, the Dukes of Montpensier and Beaujolais, his sister the Princess of Bourbon as well as the Prince of Conti, were locked up at Fort Notre-Dame de la Garde. Then theMay 27, 1793 the Duke of Orleans is transferred to Fort Saint-Jean, the other prisoners join him on May 31, 1793.

Philippe Égalité is interned on the third floor with the Duke of Beaujolais. The Duke of Montpensier is housed on the second floor and joins his brother on the third floor when his father is transferred to Paris on October 24, 1793 where he will be guillotined on November 6, 1793. The 1st May 1794the princes are transferred from the tower to the apartments of the second in command. At the end of August 1795, the Prince of Conti and the Duchess of Bourbon were released. The Dukes of Montpensier and Beaujolais were not released until the end of 1796. TheNovember 7, 1796 they embark on the ship “Fortune” bound for America. This long detention ruined their health. They both suffer from a chest disease: Montpensier died in London in 1807 at the age of 32; he leaves an account of his detention at Fort Saint-Jean, a recently published work. Beaujolais died in Malta at the age of 29.

Massacre of the Jacobins
After the fall of Robespierre the July 27, 1794, one hundred and twenty-seven Jacobins were imprisoned in Fort Saint-Jean. The June 5, 1795, a band of armed men under the command of Robin, leaves the hotel of ambassadors located rue Beauvau and heads for Fort Saint-Jean. Forcing the doors of the dungeons they slaughter and shoot more than a hundred prisoners.

The 19th century transformation of the surroundings
At the beginning of 19th century the port of Marseilles becomes increasingly crowded and no longer meets the economic requirements imposed by the advent of steamships. Port extension projects follow one another; it was finally decided to create, to the north of the old port, an exterior port built by the shore, entirely reclaimed from the sea and protected by a dike. The creation of the new joliette pool is authorized by the law of August 5, 1844. The works last nine years: the new basin of the joliette (20 ha) almost doubles that of the old port (26 ha).

These two basins are connected by a channel 150 meters long made in the old ditch of Fort Saint-Jean which thus becomes an island. To leave Fort Saint-Jean accessible to vehicles, two swing bridges were built: the swing bridge at Fort Saint-Jean with a length of 2.65 meters and that of the Major with a length of 3.80 meters.

This canal is protected from the sea by riprap made with “flat stones”, hence the name given to this area which becomes the place of choice for local swimmers and anglers.

Along the quay of this canal, there are often a few bricks awaiting loading, as well as Italian sailboats which regularly ship scrap metal.

The xx th century

The Transporter Bridge
The transporter bridge was inaugurated on December 24, 1905 to allow the passage from one bank to the other of the old port, it operated until its blasting in 1944. Fort Saint-Jean was inextricably linked to the image of the port.

New barracks
In 1908 a new barracks, currently called building H or Georges Henri Rivière, was built on the west front of the fort near the lantern tower. The foundation works will be followed by the archaeologist Vasseur.

Filling of the connecting channel
Barely completed in 1853, the Joliette basin turns out to be insufficient and must be extended by the Lazaret and Arenc basins, the construction of which is decided by law. June 10, 1854. Other basins are successively created: imperial basin (currently national basin), Pinède, of president Wilson and Mirabeau. The Joliette basin, the oldest, must be modified. TheApril 20, 1929work begins to change the orientation of the quays with the construction of the dam at Fort Saint-Jean and the moles J1, J2, J3 and J4. The junction canal joliette – old port which is no longer justified is filled in from 1938.

World War II
After the Allied landing in North Africa, German troops occupied Marseilles from theNovember 12, 1942 and take possession of Fort Saint-Jean where explosives are stored in the lower part. This deposit explodes inaugust 1944 during a bombardment carried out for the liberation of Marseille. Buildings dating back to the 12th and 19th centuries were destroyed.

Fort Saint-Jean today
The successive works
After the liberation, the French army repossessed the fort although the complex no longer presented any strategic interest. Given the extent of the repairs, the military authorities decided not to rebuild the destroyed buildings and only leveled the spoil in the lower part of the fort, burying what was left of the old commandery.

In 1960 the fort was ceded to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs which had it classified as a historic monument by decree of June 16, 1964. New buildings were built from 1967 to 1971 in the lower part of the fort on the remains of the commander’s palace to house the underwater antiquities service, now the Department of Underwater and Underwater Archaeological Research (DRASSM). These premises are occupied by MuCEM, since since January 2009, the DRASSM has been transferred to new buildings in l’Estaque.

From 1975 to 1978 the southern surrounding wall which had been demolished by the explosion in 1944 was partially rebuilt. Various works were carried out from 1980 to 2000: restoration of the King René tower and the lantern tower, archaeological excavations at the Saint-Jean chapel, installation of the old German bunker located east of the fort as a camp memorial of death.

Legend of the plan: 1- King René’s tower, 2- Saint-Jean chapel, 3- Old DRASSM building, 4- Inner courtyard of the lower part, 5- Staircase, 6- Officers’ gallery, 7- Ruins of old barracks, 8- Gallery of the rise of the cannons, 9- Georges Henri Rivière building, 10- Tower of the lantern, 11- Tracing of the old half-moon, 12- Old sanitary setpoint, 13- Memorial of the death camps (former blockhouse), 14- Saint-Laurent Church

The current buildings
Inside the ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean, the buildings are divided into two levels:

Lower level
King René’s square tower: 28.50 meters high, it consists of four rooms served by a spiral staircase of 147 steps with a first room of 42 m2, a second of 58.60 m2, a third of 44.20 m2 and a last of 42.20 m2. The roof terrace has an area of 180 m2.
The Saint-Jean chapel whose bell tower has been restored thanks to the patronage of the Order of Malta and the Rotary club of Marseille.
The modern DRASSM building.
A small square from which the gallery of the cannon rise starts, passing under the officers’ gallery to reach the upper level.

Upper level
The officers’ gallery.
The round lantern tower.
Old demolished barracks where the remains of a mill and a bakery are still visible.
The old barracks called the “Georges Henri Rivière” building.

Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations
The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (Mucem) is a national museum located in Marseille. It was inaugurated by President François Hollande, the June 7, 2013, when Marseille was the European Capital of Culture. It is one of the rare lasting testimonies of the cultural programming of the year 2013 designed by B. Latarjet, with the construction of the FRAC PACA in the new district of La Joliette.

Museum of society, the Mucem is a national museum placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and devoted to the civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean. Its creation in Marseille underlines the concern of the State to provide the second city of France with major cultural facilities.

The permanent exhibitions are generally designed by crossing different scientific fields: anthropology, archeology, history, art history and contemporary art. The museum also offers temporary monographic exhibitions dedicated to artists or major figures in the world of plastic and literary creation. The museum’s vocation is to give an account of the historical and social permanence of this basin of civilization, as well as of the tensions which run through it until contemporary times.

The National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions (MNAT) which was located in Paris was closed in 2005 and its collections transferred to the Museum of Civilizations in Europe and the Mediterranean (MuCEM) located in Marseille. This museum spans two sites: Fort Saint-Jean and Mole J4, where a building designed by the architect Rudy Ricciotti is constructed. A 130 m long footbridge, overlooking a dock separating the two sites, connects the fort to the museum. Another footbridge allows direct access to the fort from the esplanade of the Saint-Laurent church.