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Why was Fort Saint-Nicolas built at the entrance to Marseille’s Old Port?

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View of the old port of Marseille, France, with numerous boats docked in the harbor and the city's terracotta-roofed buildings rising up a hill, topped by the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica. — Marseille Seaside view of the Old Port of Marseille, France.

Fort Saint-Nicolas was built at the southern entrance to Marseille’s Old Port by Louis XIV in 1660.1

The construction was a direct response to the city's participation in the Fronde, a movement that opposed royal absolutism between 1648 and 1653. After the king personally intervened to suppress the local revolt, he ordered the fortress to be built as a strategic measure to discourage any further manifestations of independence and to ensure the city remained under royal control.1