According to local lore, a young Louis-Napoleon (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte and soon to become Prince-President Napoleon III) visited Marseille in 1852 and liked it so much he instructed the Swiss-French architect Samuel Vaucher to find a suitable plot of land and build him a palace. Vaucher did as he was asked and designed the Palais du Pharo, a grand stately home and gardens on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean.
Napoleon III died before he was able to take up residence, and his widow, the Empress Eugénie gave the palace to the city, who used the building as the university’s medical school. Nowadays the palace acts as a conference venue and events center, hosting weddings, fairs, art exhibitions, and more. The adjacent gardens offer magnificent views over the city by the sea and are easy to reach as part of a guided bus or bike tour of the city.