Musée des Civilisations d'Europe et de Méditerranée is an extraordinary French national treasure, and it's certainly one for Marseille. If you grab a map of Marseille and locate the Vieux Port (Old Port), you'll find this amazing museum at the port's mouth on the north side. Devoted to European and Mediterranean civilizations, the museum was built on land reclaimed at the harbor mouth on and next to the site of Fort Saint-Jean, which was built in the 17th century. But the complex includes, just to the north of the fort, a massive building on a former port terminal, which is connected by a long footbridge. This is one of two footbridges; the other connects the fort to the Esplanade de la Tourette and the church of St Laurent in the Panier quarter.
The collections and events halls are spread between the fort and the main building on the north side, which is a gargantuan cube that's encased in a lattice shell of fibre-reinforced concrete. This building houses an auditorium, two floors of exhibits, a floor of permanent collections, and a bookshop. I almost forgot the restaurant and the cafe.
