Arsenal des galères, Military arsenal near the Old Port in Marseille, France.

The Arsenal des Galères was a military shipyard on the east and south shores of Marseille's Vieux-Port, at the Plan Fourmiguier near today's Quai des Belges. Almost nothing of it survives: the access channel and the galley basin were filled in during the 1910s, and its footprint still shapes the street layout of the 1st arrondissement.

The facility was built between 1665 and 1669 under Colbert's direction during Louis XIV's reign. It served as the base for the French Mediterranean galley fleet and was a key naval center of that era.

The name survives in the city: a 1960s nightclub called "l'Arsenal des Galères" occupied part of the site, and from there the cells cut into the rock of Notre-Dame de la Garde hill could be seen. The galley slaves held here until 1748 were convicts sentenced to forced labour.

Almost nothing of the arsenal survives: the access channel and the galley basin were filled in during the 1910s, and the site now lies along the east and south shores of the Vieux-Port. Look for the Capitainerie and the rock-cut cells of the Notre-Dame de la Garde hill, once visible from a 1960s nightclub called "l'Arsenal des Galères".

At its peak around 1690, the facility housed around forty galleys, making it the last major naval base devoted to this ancient type of warship. This made it a striking witness to the shift from ancient to modern naval warfare.