Musée d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne

The Musée d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne is housed in the Vieille Charité, the seventeenth-century hospice in the Panier district of Marseille, and it is one of the most important archaeological collections in France outside Paris. The earlier description confused it with the Musée d'Histoire de Marseille, which stands near the Canebière and displays the Roman port discovered under the Centre Bourse shopping centre in 1967, a separate museum that tells the story of the city from its Greek foundation as Massalia. The two museums complement each other, but they are different, and visitors interested in ancient Marseille should see both.

The Archéologie Méditerranéenne museum's strength is its range. Its Egyptian collection is among the richest in France, and it includes mummies, coffins, funerary statues and papyri, with objects from tombs and temples, and offers a thorough look at the beliefs and daily life of ancient Egypt. A Greek, Etruscan, Cypriot and Roman section shows ceramics, bronzes and sculptures that reflect the trade and culture of the Mediterranean world, at a time when Marseille was one of its busiest ports. The collection of vases is particularly good, with painted scenes of myth and daily life.

One of the most original parts of the museum deals with the peoples who lived in the south of Gaul before the Romans, the Celts and Ligurians. Stone sculptures from sanctuaries such as Roquepertuse and Entremont, which include carved heads, seated figures and a famous portico with niches for skulls, show a world of religious ideas that is strikingly different from the classical tradition, and they are among the most remarkable survivals of Iron Age art in France. The museum puts them in the context of the Mediterranean trading networks that brought Greek and Roman influence to the region.

The setting adds to the experience. The Vieille Charité is a Baroque complex with three levels of pink stone arcades around a courtyard, and a chapel with an oval dome in the centre, designed by Pierre Puget, and it was built from 1671 to house the poor and homeless. The courtyard is a calm and impressive space, and the building also houses the Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian Arts, a cinema, a bookshop and a café. The Panier district, the oldest part of Marseille, with its steep lanes, lies around it, and the MuCEM, the Cathédrale La Major and the Old Port are within walking distance.

Allow one to two hours. It suits lovers of ancient history, families and travellers who enjoy fine buildings. Check opening hours and any works in progress before you go.