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Many people know where the infamous Alkatraz is. But here, in Europe, we also have such a place – that is the small island of If , outside the Marseille port was the place where Count Monte Christo from the famous book lived his drama. This is a real historical place – the Château d'If, frightful fortress still keeps the spirit of the Middle Ages. Since 17-th century the castle started to be used by the authorities as prison for political prisoners. The famous novel Dumas tells of Edmond Dantes, who is a political prisoner managing a very brave escape from the dungeons of the castle. In reality, nobody is ever recorded to have escaped from the island alive.
The castle was built as a defense fortress against sea raids by King Francois I in 1530s. It’s main function was deterrent – the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V abandoned his plans to attack Marseille most probably because of it.
During the Second World War, the Germans used it for strategic position (whatever that have meant).
Now, you can roam the historical place – the roundtrip with a boat costs 8 euro, the admission ticket to the castle (which includes short presentation by a guide) – 4 euro. Inside you can watch the feature film about Count Monte Christo, you can go wherever you’d like – provided that you return to the boat by 5 pm.
We strongly advise you not to spend the night on the gloomy island!