Escaliers du Cours Julien

Listen

When you arrive

Where to stand

Arrive around the stepped street-art approach linking Rue Jean-Baptiste-Estelle to Cours Julien. The key cue is the change in elevation and concentration of murals and graffiti as you climb.

When you arrive

What to look for

Look up as much as down. The steps, walls, shutters and doorways are part of the gallery, and the art changes constantly.

What to do

What to do

Climb slowly, take a photo if you want one, and use the steps as a transition rather than a long stop. Notice how rapidly the mood of the city changes within a few hundred metres.

What to eat

What to eat or buy

No core purchase. Finish anything you bought at the market, drink some water, and save appetite for Cours Julien.

The story

A city surface that keeps changing

These stairs are not one artwork. They are a canvas Marseille keeps repainting. Street art in Cours Julien grew with the city's hip-hop culture: the Ville de Marseille traces an early connection to rap cassettes brought to local DJs by American sailors, before aerosols spread through the centre in the early 1990s, especially around Cours Julien and La Plaine. The stairs themselves have repeatedly changed skin: commissioned works have included painted frescos, knitted railings, rainbow steps, Mahn Kloix's anamorphic faces, LGBT and trans flags, and later works by WHA-T. So don't worry if the picture on your phone looks nothing like what is in front of you. That is the point. Look at the layers, climb slowly, and remember that at the top this creative district has another identity hiding underneath it: for roughly a century, Cours Julien was one of Marseille's great fruit-and-vegetable trading grounds.

Good to know

Best time

Morning: Quieter, better for seeing details and photos. Afternoon: Lively and still easy to navigate. Evening: Strong atmosphere but busier; use normal city awareness.