Les Alpes de lumière n°157 - Les îles de Marseille - Découverte du Frioul

Les îles de Marseille - Découverte du Frioul - Les Alpes de lumière 157

(The islands of Marseille - Discovering Frioul)

Just over two nautical miles from the Vieux Port, the Frioul archipelago is a site of contrasts. At once familiar and little-known, these white islands, with their tormented rocks, attractive and long feared, dried out by the sun in the middle of the water, hospitable in their coves and swept by fearsome winds, are rich in exceptional flora and fauna in a singularly barren landscape.

A land of legends too, where the literary myth attached to the islet of If competes with the old fantasies of the plague, the islands carry within them an unsuspected and fascinating history, which this original guide gives you to read, while inviting you to take a stroll through time and space, between land and sea.

This discovery guide reveals the unsuspected secrets of a nature beaten and shaped by the winds. It also indicates the interest of each walking itinerary and sketches some of its legendary features, including the most famous of them all, the Château d'If.

The Frioul archipelago, jewel of the Mediterranean !

With the exception of the Château d'If, immortalized in Alexandre Dumas' famous novel "The Count of Monte Cristo", few people are familiar with the islands of Frioul, the sublime Cyclades of Pomègues, Ratonneau and Tiboulen, off the coast of Marseille.
Reserved for the military and quarantine for four centuries, open to the public only since 1970, these islands still often symbolize plague and contagion for many Marseillais. However, these maritime outposts of the Mediterranean's oldest and most important city, these white rocks battered by the sun, sea and Mistral wind, these coasts jagged by countless calanques with crystal-clear waters, reveal an impressive heritage, including a network of roads and paths. Strollers will be amazed by the number of buildings that adorn the crests and headlands. Reshaped through the ages, these stones bear witness to a past steeped in military, health and economic history.

Editors: Guy Barruol, Bernard Mondon and Nerte Fustier-Dautier.

Les Alpes de lumière n°157, published by Alpes de lumière.