MuCEM (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations)

The MuCEM, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, sits at the mouth of Marseille's Vieux-Port, where the city meets the open sea. It opened in 2013, the year Marseille was European Capital of Culture, and it was the first national museum in France devoted to the Mediterranean world. The main building is the J4, a square block wrapped in a lattice of dark concrete designed by the architect Rudy Ricciotti with Roland Carta. The pattern of the lattice filters the sun and recalls fishing nets and the shadows of Mediterranean architecture, and from the roof terrace you can look over the harbour, the cathedral and the open sea.

A footbridge links the J4 to the Fort Saint-Jean, a military site whose origins reach back to the Middle Ages and the Knights Hospitaller and which was rebuilt in its present form under Louis XIV in the seventeenth century. The fort is now part of the museum, and its terraces and gardens, including a garden planted with species from around the Mediterranean, are among the best walks in the city. A second footbridge leads from the fort to the Panier district, so you can move from the museum to the old town without returning to the quay. Beside the J4 the Villa Méditerranée, another striking modern building, hosts events on the Mediterranean.

The museum's collections have an unusual origin. They descend from the ethnographic collections of the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro and of the Musée national des Arts et Traditions populaires in Paris, which were brought to Marseille and reorganised around the Mediterranean and Europe. The exhibitions use objects of daily life, art and anthropology to explore themes like agriculture, religion, trade, migration and the relationships between the societies of the sea. Temporary shows cover subjects from contemporary art to fashion and social history.

A visit can take two hours or half a day, depending on how much you wish to see, and the terraces, the fort and the café with sea views justify lingering. The Conservation and Resource Centre, at 1 Rue Clovis Hugues in the Belle de Mai area, holds the reserve collections and is open for research and special events.

The MuCEM suits anyone interested in the history and cultures of the Mediterranean, architecture fans, and families who like the open-air spaces. It also offers a calm break from Marseille's busy quays, and it is easy to combine with the Cathédrale La Major, Le Panier and the Château d'If boats.