France · 16th century
The Château d'If (French pronunciation: [ʃɑto dif]; Occitan: Castèl d'If) is a fortress located on the Île d'If (Ilha d'If), the smallest island in the Frioul archipelago, situated about 1.5 kilometres (7⁄8 mile) off Marseille in southeastern France. Built in the 16th century, it later served as a prison until the end of the 19th century. The fortress was demilitarized and opened to the public in 1890. It is famous for being one of the settings of Alexandre Dumas's adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo. It is one of the most visited sites in the city of Marseille (nearly 100,000 visitors per year).
Text adapted from “Château d'If” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château d'If ranks #91 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #11 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded 1527, it is older than 41% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 50,569 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Marseille, 5 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →