Bibliothèque l'Alcazar

This guide to Bibliothèque l'Alcazar in Marseille opens with a 2023 viral video claiming rioters had burned down the library, footage that turned out to show a fire from the other side of the world. It traces the building's earlier life as the Alcazar Lyrique, a flamboyant faux-Moorish music hall that opened in 1857 and hosted stars like Fernandel and Yves Montand before notoriously rowdy audiences who booed acts that bored them. Look at the ornate entrance you walked through, one of the few pieces of the old music hall still standing.