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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel Louvre et Paix, also known as Hôtel de la Marine, is a former prestigious hotel opened on August 15, 1863 on the Canebière, in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille. Built by the architect Jean-Charles Pot, it embodied the fascist of the Second Empire with its 20 lounges, 2 restaurants and up to 250 rooms spread over 6 floors. Equipped with innovations for the time (hydraulic elevators, electric lighting, telephones), he attracted an affluent clientele and even hosted the screening of the film L.

The facade, adorned with four cariatids symbolizing the continents (the work of the sculptor Hippolyte Ferrat), and bas-reliefs evoking trade and navigation, reflected the Marseille opening on the world. The hotel was also part of Nancy Wake's wedding with Henri Fiaca in 1939, before being requisitioned during World War II. He was successively occupied by the National Navy (1941) and the German Kriegsmarine, and lost his post-war hotel vocation to become a department store.

Ranked a historic monument in 1982, the hotel retains protected elements: its facades on the Canebière and adjacent streets, its majestic staircase, as well as the Mess of the Officers and the conference room. Today, part of the building houses municipal offices (AGAM, Marseille Aménagement) and commercial signs such as C&A. Its history illustrates the urban changes of Marseille, between luxurious heritage and contemporary adaptations.

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