Exterior view

Puget’s two surviving built works, other than the displaced portal of the Toulon H�tel-de-Ville, are the Halle aux Poissons, a magnificent temple-like building in Marseille, and the famous Hospice de la Charit�, Marseille, for which his designs were accepted in 1671, though the building was not completed until 1747.

The ensemble, with its oval, domed chapel surrounded by an open arcaded courtyard, is a highly original achievement of southern French architecture. It displays a thorough knowledge of recent Roman Baroque buildings, in particular of the more austerely decorated but spatially inventive works of Bernini and Rainaldi. It also displays an understanding of the latest developments in Paris, and has affinities in design as well as function with Lib�ral Bruand’s H�tel des Invalides and the chapel of the Salpetri�re. Pierre Puget apparently had little to do with the actual building of the project, though from 1700–07 Fran�ois Puget was in charge of its completion.

Puget’s chapel guards the entrance to La Vieille Charit�, Marseille