The Marseille Transporter Bridge

🚲 This tour is brought to you by NAVIA Mobility

Discover Marseille differently — on an electric bike — with cultural routes and guided stops like this one.
Navia means freedom to explore, effortlessly… and in style.

🏗️ The Marseille Transporter Bridge

Dates: 1905 – 1944
Reading time: 2 minutes
Location: Entrance to the Old Port, near Fort Saint-Jean

🧭 Why stop here?

Once upon a time, right where you stand, a giant of steel stretched across the sky — as mythical to the people of Marseille as the Eiffel Tower is to Parisians.
Its purpose? To let people cross the Old Port without blocking boat traffic.
A technical marvel… with a poetic soul.

🛠️ A bridge like no other

• Two towers, each 86.6 meters high, standing like sentinels at the harbor entrance

• A suspended deck hanging 52 meters above the sea

• A 20-ton gondola that glided from one side to the other in just 90 seconds, carrying up to 200 passengers and vehicles!

🧠 NAVIA Anecdote:
The bravest could ride an elevator (yes, in 1907!) to a panoramic viewing platform — complete with a seafood restaurant.
Stunning views, bouillabaisse on the menu… and seagulls for company.

💣 A dramatic end

In August 1944, during the Liberation of Marseille, German troops blew up the northern tower to block access to the port.
The second tower stood until 1945… when 400 kg of explosives finished the job.

🎨 A modern art icon

The bridge inspired photographers of the Bauhaus movement, like László Moholy-Nagy and Germaine Krull, captivated by its futuristic design.
It even graced the cover of an architectural book in 1928!

👀 What remains today

Only one solitary structure remains, near Fort Saint-Jean.
Keep an eye out: it still seems to be waiting for its long-lost twin to return...

🔮 And tomorrow?

Since 2008, several projects have dreamed of rebuilding the transporter bridge just as it was.
A nod to the past, and a bold step toward the future…
One day, Marseille may again see this skyborne marvel return.

📍 NAVIA Tip

💡 Stop here, snap a photo of the last standing tower, and imagine a steel silhouette gliding over the water, between sky and sea…
That’s also part of the spirit of Massilia