The Iron Mask's cell
You can enter the cell of the man whose identity was never established.
Museesc — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0 · Alexkom000 — CC BY 4.0
A fort on the Île Sainte-Marguerite off Cannes, reached by boat from the city's harbour in about fifteen minutes. Its fame rests on a single prisoner: the Man in the Iron Mask, the unknown man imprisoned in France in the seventeenth century on Louis XIV's orders, whose identity was concealed even after his death. He spent years in a cell in this fort, and you can enter it today and stand inside. His identity was never established, and it has occupied historians and novelists for centuries — Alexandre Dumas built a novel on it, and the theories run from a brother of the king to an Italian servant. Alongside the cells the fort holds a maritime museum with Roman shipwreck material recovered from the seabed around the island. The island itself is half the visit: pine and eucalyptus woods, walking paths and rocky coves for swimming, with no cars at all. That is a complete contrast with Cannes itself. Allow at least half a day for the boat, the fort and the walking.
You can enter the cell of the man whose identity was never established.
A maritime museum of material recovered from the seabed around the island.
Pine woods, paths and coves — a complete contrast with Cannes.
Île Sainte-Marguerite, off the coast of Cannes
An unidentified prisoner held in France under Louis XIV, moved between several prisons including this fort and then the Bastille, where he died in 1703. He was made to conceal his face and forbidden to speak to anyone. Official records never gave his name, and the theories are many with no conclusive evidence for any.
Take an early morning boat from Cannes harbour, do the fort before it fills, then walk the island and eat a packed lunch at one of the coves. Check the last return boat's time on arrival and set your watch by it — the island is small but the paths take longer than you expect.
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