Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Jardin des Vestiges, located behind the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille, houses the archaeological remains of the ancient port of the Phocéan city. Discovered in 1967 during works for a shopping centre, the site revealed Greek fortifications, funeral enclosures and harbour infrastructure dating from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Approximately 10,000 m2 were classified as historical monuments, while 20,000 m2 were sacrificed for construction. For a decade, the site was built into a public garden by landscape architect Joël-Louis Martin and integrated into the Museum of History of Marseille.

Remnants include the Horn of the Port, a filled marshy area with 180-metre-long Roman wharfs, unloading stairs, and a shipwreck of the third century preserved by lyophilization and exposed to the museum. The Greek fortifications, rebuilt several times between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC, show evolutionary techniques: limestone base surmounted by raw bricks, then tufa blocks, and finally pink limestone. The Wall of Crinas (II century BC), originally wrongly attributed to a first-century Marseille doctor, is an emblematic element.

The site also includes two square defence towers (10-12 m high) surrounding the Italian gate, a roadway of the Lower Empire with non-slip striations, and a freshwater basin of the second century fed by a spring. This basin, sealed with pitch, was used to supply ships and was equipped with wheels to cure sediment. Two funeral terraces of the 4th century BC, decorated with triglyphs, housed cinematic boxes of lead or bronze, now exposed to the museum. The garden, renovated in 2019, offers an immersion in the ancient urbanism of Massalia.

Ranked a historic monument in 1916 (for the Crinas Wall) and then in 1972 (for all remains), the site illustrates the evolution of Marseilles, from its Greek foundation to the Roman period. The excavations also revealed everyday objects, thrown into the enveloped port, and traces of artisanal activities. The garden, designed as a setting for these remains, allows to visualize the transition between the ancient city (in the north) and its suburban port area, separated by the ramparts.

Landscaping, carried out in the 1980s, preserved the remains in situ while making them accessible to the public. The renovation of 2018-2019 has modernized the tour routes and museumography, strengthening the link between the garden and the Museum of History of Marseille. Today, the site is a unique testimony of urban archaeology in France, combining ancient heritage and contemporary integration.

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