Overview

Established in 1815 through the impetus of the Marquis de Montgrand, then mayor of Marseilles, the National History Museum assembles some of the most invaluable examples of our natural heritage. Housed in the right wing of Palais Longchamp, a magnificent palace built in the Second Empire, the museum's collections earned it, in 1967, a place among the top 9 museums in France. Today, with more than 200,000 species classified according to similarities of origin, structure etc., the museum seeks to preserve the memory of our rich biodiversity.