Palais Longchamp in France, resort of Marseille
Rating: 9,7/10 (1799 votes)  One of the main attractions of Marseille, in the original plan, was not supposed to become a pompous architectural ensemble. In 1862, it was decided to build an aqueduct on the site of the Longchamp Palace connecting 53 kilometers of Marseille water supply canals. In the process of designing the aqueduct, the lead architect of the project, Henri Esperando, revised the entire concept of the future structure several times. The result was an architectural ensemble, which critics immediately began to compare with the entrance to the Palace of Versailles. Construction took 7 years, and by 1869 the Longchamp Palace was inaugurated. The entrance to the main rooms is preceded by a magnificent fountain with a sculptural composition depicting ancient women with bulls. The palace itself is a crescent, divided into three galleries, between which there is a magnificent colonnade. Immediately after construction, museums began to open here, and in 1872 a zoo was organized in the backyard. But the financial problems of the municipality of Marseille did not allow keeping the animals properly, so it was decided to close the zoo. The museums founded in the 19th century are still functioning. At the moment, there are two museums in the galleries of the palace - – Fine Arts and Natural History. In the Museum of Fine Arts, you can see many canvases by French painters of the 19th-20th centuries. The policy of the museum is that it does not specialize in expensive masterpieces, but seeks to show the history of French painting on the example of paintings by not so widely known artists. The Natural History Museum is dedicated to the evolution of the animal world since the inception of life on Earth. In a separate hall of the museum there are samples of exotic flora. Both museums are open on weekdays, the entrance for tourists does not exceed a few euros.   We also recommend reading The house where Mozart was born in Austria, Salzburg resort Topic: Palais Longchamp in France, resort of Marseille. |
