Château Borély, Manor house and decorative arts museum in 8th arrondissement, Marseille, France

Château Borély is a three-story manor house with two pavilions, a large courtyard, and a private marble chapel nestled within Parc Borély. The building now functions as a decorative arts museum featuring rooms that retain their original furnishings and architectural details.

Louis Borély, a Marseille shipping merchant, had the château built on the Bonneveine estate he had enlarged from 1755 by buying neighbouring properties. Architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau submitted a facade project on 1 September 1767, judged too complicated; local architect Marie-Joseph Peyre simplified it. Louis Borély died in 1768, and his heir Louis Joseph Denis Borély completed the works, with decoration by painter Louis Chaix. He died childless in 1784, and his brother Honoré inherited it. The city bought the château in 1860.

The château's name comes from the Borély family of maritime merchants; Louis Borély bought the Bonneveine estate in 1684, and his descendants held the house until 1856, when Gaston de Panisse exchanged it with the city. Since 2013 it has housed the Museum of Decorative Arts, Fashion and Ceramics, displaying the gilded salon, library, staircase and oval marble chapel.

Access is straightforward since the building sits directly in the park and is clearly marked. Visitors should note that interior rooms are historically furnished and fragile, so careful movement through spaces is important.

The fashion collection holds around 10,000 garments and accessories spanning multiple periods. These pieces allow for rotating exhibitions throughout the year that showcase trends and craftsmanship techniques from the 18th century onward.