Castle of If’s Renowned Prisoners
To be in the south of France and miss the chance of visiting the Castle of If (Château d’If) is simply impossible. French literature lovers are probably familiarized with the famous “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas, where perennial tortures of the hero Edmond Dantès were being described. Another prisoner brought fame to this castle—Iron Mask, the one well-known from Man from the Iron Mask movie, who, as it’s said, was the arrested twin of Luis XIV.
Castle of If
168.am had the opportunity to visit and take photos inside the Castle, located on the Mediterranean Sea, near Friuli Archipelago, on the island, 4km far from Marseille. To get there it’s necessary to use water transport, which takes those intending to visit the Castle from Vieux-Port de Marseille. At the moment of our visit to Castle of If there was a huge queue of tourists at the cashier’s desk.
With its initial importance the building was meant for protecting Marseille from marine attacks. The construction was launched in the period of 1524-1531, upon the command of King Francis I of France.
Castle of If, entrance
Since late 16th century the Castle was used for isolating and keeping seriously dangerous criminals. From that very moment the Castle received the name of If. Huguenots, political prisoners, leaders of Paris Commune, as well as people, representing any danger to France have been kept in the dungeons of the Castle.
View from the Castle’s palisade cell
In the 1830s Castle of If officially suspends being a prison, however, in 1871 leaders of Paris Commune have been arrested here, and their head Gaston Cremieux has been shot in the Castle of If.
The visitors in the Castle
The cell of the first hero bringing fame to the Castle—Edmond Dantès, is on the first floor. The cell is joined to a half-basement room with no windows through a tunnel, which according to the content of Alexandre Duma’s novel, is the cell of Abbé Faria. Here a TV screen may be found, which shows parts of the movies with the scenes of Dantès and Faria.
The cell of Edmond Dantès
Right next to the cell of Edmond Dantès, the cell of another well-known hero of the novel—Abbé Faria is found.
The cell of Abbé Faria
On the second floor of the Castle a cell is introduced, where the mysterious prisoner with an iron mask was kept. As we’ve already mentioned, The Man in the Iron Mask, was the arrested twin of Luis XIV, about which the shot adventurous movie (starring Leonardo DiCaprio—Philippe/Luis XIV) based on motives of “The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later” by Alexandre Dumas (father) and is devoted to the detainee of Luis XIV.
The cell of Luis XIV’s arrested twin
I was about to leave the Castle of If with the feeling of people undergone convict tortures ever, and more frequently, absent presence of innocent people. Already years later, the then dungeon today is considered an important cultural venue attracting lots of visitors to southern France.
After the visit to Castle of If I didn’t leave Marseille, as the topic for my next reportage was there, which this time is so close to us, Armenians.
View of Marseille from the Castle of If
FRANCE-YEREVAN
Photos by 168.am
By Nvard Manvelyan
