The Château d’If, prison of the Count of Monte Cristo, fascinates visitors

In Alexandre Dumas’ novel, the Count of Monte Cristo escapes from this famous castle located off the coast of Marseille harbor. The excitement generated by the film could well further arouse the curiosity of tourists, many of whom already come to visit this former prison.

While the adventure film the count of Monte Cristo has already attracted 2.5 million spectators in theaters since its release two weeks ago and that the book’s sales are soaring in bookstores, 200 years after its publication, the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas also attracts tourists to the harbor of Marseille, on the island of the Château d’If. It is one of the most visited monuments in the city, with 100,000 visitors per year. It is in this former isolated prison that the Count of Monte-Cristo is locked up before escaping by sea.

The hero of Alexandre Dumas’ novel comes to life here, behind these ramparts, set on steep rocks and battered by the sea, in this castle which served for almost 400 years as a prison for political opponents. “It is a miniature castle, great in its international fame, explains Armelle Baduel, administrator of the Château d’If for the Centre des monuments nationaux. The ground floor of the castle is dedicated to Alexandre Dumas because visitors come to see ‘the castle of Monte Cristo’.”

Near the central courtyard, a sign indicates the dungeon of the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès. He spent 14 years there, the story goes. In reality, the castle mainly housed collective jails, where prisoners were crammed in by the dozen. This cell was built from scratch by the guards at the beginning of the 20th century, after the publication of Dumas’ novel, with a fake hole, the one through which the character of Dantès communicated with his fellow prisoner, the Abbé Faria.

“People come from all over the world to see this hole between two cellscontinues Armelle Baduel. Very austere, damp cells. The visitor who comes to the site sometimes forgets that it is imaginary and asks us where Edmond Dantès’ cell is, how he was able to escape. Yes, it was not real, but we, the Ministry of Culture, left it there.”

“It is still a monument that attracts more than 100,000 visitors per year to feel the emotion they had when reading or watching ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ at the cinema.”

Armelle Baduel, administrator of the Château d’If

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And that is the genius of Alexandre Dumas, explains the administrator of the castle: to merge myth and reality thanks to an infinite number of details in his works, which have won over people all over the world.

“I love the story of The Count of Monte Cristo,” says Marysa, a Brazilian tourist. the count of Monte Cristo is the first book her father gave her when she was eight years old, so being in this castle is a lot of emotions. “It’s like being part of history”she adds. The new film adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo could well attract even more visitors here, even though no scenes were filmed at the Chateau d’If.