It was installed on the first floor of the Palais Communal and later of the Hôtel de Ville.
Becoming more and more powerful, the Chamber of Commerce decided at the beginning of the 19th century to build a building worthy of the city's commercial power. In the meantime, the Chamber of Commerce sat in a temporary building on the current Place Général de Gaulle. There were 24 projects, but it was that of the architect Pascal Coste that was selected in 1852. The Palais de la Bourse was inaugurated in 1860 when Napoleon III came to Marseille.
The Chamber of Commerce wanted an imposing palace without upsetting the habits of the merchants who conducted their business in the open air. Coste proposed a plan that allowed all the services to be organized around a large trading room designed for 2,500 merchants, while the brokers' offices were located outside, under porticoes, intermediate spaces where each person could circulate or discuss at will. The elevations reflect the different functions of the building: on the main facade, marked by the colonnaded forecourt of a colossal Corinthian order, are the offices of the administrators, the reception room open onto the Canebière, the square, with a view of the port, all served by a monumental marble staircase. The side facades on the galleries, which are more unadorned and only decorated with Corinthian pilasters, house the other commercial services which are accessed by secondary staircases.
The Chamber of Commerce also housed the Museum of the Navy and the Merchant Economy until May 2018. Its collections will be housed with the reserves of the City of Marseille, and the Mucem fund.
The building is freely accessible every day.
