Maison Diamantée

The Maison Diamantée in Marseille is one of the oldest surviving residential buildings in the city and stands directly behind City Hall. Its name comes from its distinctive facade, which is clad in stones cut into prism shapes, giving it a diamond-like appearance. The building was probably constructed in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century on the site of the former gardens of the Palais de Provence. It originally served as a residence for wealthy families of Spanish and Italian descent, among them the Saboulin Bollena family, whose members held important offices in the city. In oral tradition, the house is often wrongly called the palace of King René. After a period of neglect, it was saved in 1914 and later handed over to the Comité du Vieux-Marseille. From 1967 to 2009, the building housed the Musée du Vieux Marseille, before its collections were incorporated into the Musée d'histoire de Marseille. Today, after the city administration moved its offices out of the building, the Maison Diamantée once again serves a cultural purpose focused on the history and heritage of Marseille.