Les consignes sanitaires

The stewards of the Health Department then had a floating building or patache built. Then, by order of August 24, 1717, they were authorized to build the Consigne Sanitaire pavilion, which can still be seen on the Quai du Port, right on the waterfront. The construction was entrusted to the military engineer Mazin, who had worked under the orders of Vauban and contributed to the creation of the Arsenal des Galères. The first stone was laid on July 10, 1719. This small building was designed in a beautiful order, with a scrupulous concern for composition. Its openings, sober and elegant, have semicircular archivolts, each with a keystone clasp. On both facades, triangular pediments each bear a cartouche with the king's coat of arms. The roof is hidden by an attic decorated with vases. It is an Italian-style pavilion, a charming example of early eighteenth-century architecture. In the 19th century, it was doubled by a second pavilion built in the same style. The entrance door is surmounted by a statue of Saint Roch by Chardigny (the saint of the plague, the people of Marseilles were soon to invoke him...). The statue was knocked down on February 21, 1839, by the bowsprit of the American corvette Le Cyand, during its departure maneuver.