Château d'If, Medieval fortress in Frioul Islands, France
Château d'If is a medieval fortress on a small rocky island in the Frioul archipelago off Marseille in France. The square structure has three floors with thick stone walls and three defensive towers equipped with gun emplacements.
King Francis I ordered construction of the fortress between 1524 and 1531 to protect the harbor of Marseille from enemy naval attacks. The structure later served as a state prison, holding political and religious prisoners under harsh conditions.
Alexandre Dumas chose this fortress as the setting for his novel The Count of Monte Cristo, published in 1844 and featuring the fictional prisoner Edmond Dantès. Today visitors walk through the cells and corridors that inspired the famous story and made the site known around the world.
Boats leave regularly from the Old Port of Marseille and reach the island in about 20 minutes. Guided visits are available during summer months, and the site includes steep stairs and narrow passages inside the towers.
A sign at the château reads "Prison dite de l'Homme au Masque de Fer", yet the Man in the Iron Mask was never held here; the claim is likely legend. Mark Twain toured the cells in July 1867, before the site opened to the public, and described the visit in The Innocents Abroad.
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