La Magalone is a handsome bastide — a Provençal country house — built in the late 17th century for wealthy Marseille merchants. The house was substantially reworked in the 20th century and now serves as a music school, but it is the surrounding park that draws visitors.
The formal gardens are shaded by old plane trees and dotted with exceptional Italianate statuary. It is a quiet, green pause along the busy Boulevard Michelet in the 9th arrondissement, well south of the city centre. If you are in the neighbourhood visiting the Cité Radieuse, it makes a pleasant stop.