Guide turistiche

Marseille, locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha in classical norm or Marsiho is the second-largest city of France and forms the third-largest metropolitan area, with 1,516,340 inhabitants at the 1999 census and 1,605,000 inhabitants in 2007 (Paris and Lyon are larger). Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it is France's largest commercial port. Marseille is also the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région, as well as the préfecture (capital) of the Bouches-du-Rhône département. Its inhabitants are called Marseillais.

Marseille is the centre of a large metropolitan area, the second most populous commune and the second largest city in France. To the east, starting in the small fishing village of Callelongue on the outskirts of Marseille and stretching as far as Cassis, are the Calanques, a rugged coastal area interspersed with small fjords. Further east still are the Sainte-Baume, a 1147m mountain ridge rising from a forest of deciduous trees, the town of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1011m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the former artists' colony of l'Estaque; further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion and the Camargue region in the Rhône delta. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Etang de Berre.

The city itself is spread across a wide geographical area divided into 16 arrondissements. The central six contain most of the city's historic buildings and its services. The city's main thoroughfare, the wide boulevard called the Canebière, stretches eastward from the Old Port (Vieux Port/Panier quarter). The tourist information centre operates at the Old Port end of the Canebière. Adjacent to the Canebière is the Old Port (where the marina and fish market are located). At the entrance to the Old Port are two large forts - Fort St Nicholas on the south side and Fort St Jean on the other. Further out in the Bay of Marseille are the islands of Chateau d'If and Frioul. The main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferreol and the Centre Bourse (the main shopping mall). The centre of Marseille has several pedestrianized zones, most notably rue St Ferreol, Cours Julien near the Music Conservatory, the Cours Honoré-d'Estienne-d'Orves off the Old Port and the area around the Hotel de Ville. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the monumental fountain of Place Castellane, an important bus and metro interchange. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, dominated by the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. The railway station - Gare St Charles - is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement: it is at the end of the Boulevard d'Athènes, branching off halfway up the Canebière.


History


Man has inhabited Marseille and its environs for almost 30,000 years: paleolithic cave paintings in the underwater Cosquer cave near the calanque of Morgiou date back to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC; and very recent excavations near the railway station have unearthed paleolithic habitations from around 6,000 BC.

Marseille was founded in 600 BC by Greeks from Phocaea as a trading port under the name ?assa??a (Massalia; see also List of traditional Greek place names). The precise circumstances and date of founding remain obscure, but nevertheless a legend survives. Protis, while exploring for a new trading outpost or emporion for Phocaea, discovered the mediterranean cove of the Lacydon, fed by a freshwater stream and protected by two rocky promontories. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage. At the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice. Following their marriage, they moved to the hill just to the north of the Lacydon; and from this settlement grew Massalia.

Massalia was the first Greek port in Western Europe, growing to a population of over 1000. It was the first settlement given city status in France. Facing an opposing alliance of the Etruscans, Carthage and the Celts, the Greek colony allied itself with the expanding Roman Republic for protection. This protectionist association brought aid in the event of future attacks, and perhaps equally important it also brought the people of Massalia into the complex Roman market. The city thrived by acting as a link between the interior of Gaul, hungry for Roman goods and wine (of which Massalia was steadily exporting by 500 B.C.), and Rome's insatiable need for new products and slaves. Under this arrangement the city maintained its independence until the rise of Julius Caesar, when it joined the losing side (Pompey and the optimates) in civil war, and lost its independence in 49 BC.

It was the site of a siege and naval battle in which the fleet was confiscated by the Roman authorities. During the Roman times the city was called Massalia. It was the home port of Pytheas. Most of the archaeological remnants of the original Greek settlement were replaced by later Roman additions.

Marseille thrived as a Roman trading port. Evidence of its growth and wealth is the fact that it was the first town of France to have an official public sewer system. During the Roman era, the city was controlled by a directory of 15 selected “first” among 600 senators. Three of them had the preeminence and the essence of the executive power. The city's laws amongst other things forbade the drinking of wine by women and allowed by vote of the 600, assistance to allow a person to commit suicide.

It was during this time that Christianity first appeared in Marseille, as evidenced by catacombs above the harbour and records of roman martyrs. According to provencal tradition, Mary Magdalen evangelised Marseille with her brother Lazarus.

With the decline of the Roman empire the town reverted to the hands of the Gauls, eventually joining much of France under the rule of the Franks. Emperor Charlemagne and the Carolingian dynasty granted civic power to Marseille, which remained a major French trading port until the medieval period. The city regained much of its wealth and trading power when it was revived in the 10th century by the counts of Provence. In 1347 the city suffered terribly from the bubonic plague. As a major port, it is believed Marseille was one of the first places in France to encounter the epidemic, and some 50,000 people died in a city of 90,000. The city's fortunes declined still further when it was sacked and pillaged by the Aragonese in 1423.

Marseille soon revived its population and trading status in the Mediterranean and in 1437, the Count of Provence Rene of Anjou, who succeeded his father Louis II of Anjou, as King of Sicily and Duke of Anjou, arrived in Marseille and established it as France's most fortified settlement outside of Paris. He helped raise the status of the town to a city and allowed certain privileges to be granted to it. Marseille was then used by Duke of Anjou as a strategic maritime base to reconquer his kingdom of Sicily. King René, who wished to equip the entrance of the port with a solid defense, decided to build on the ruins of the old Maubert tower and to establish a series of ramparts guarding the harbor. Jean Pardo, engineer, conceived the plans and Jehan Robert, mason of Tarascon, carried out the work. The construction of the new city defenses took place between 1447 and 1453. The trading in Marseille also flourished in this term as the Guild began to establish a position of power within the merchants of the city. Notably René also founded the Corporation of Fisherman.

Over the course of the eighteenth century, the port's defenses were improved and Marseille became more important as France's leading military port in the Mediterranean. In 1720 the Great Plague of Marseille, a form of the Black Death, struck down 100,000 people in the city and the surrounding provinces. Jean-Baptiste Grosson, royal notary, wrote from 1770 to 1791 the historical Almanac of Marseille, published as Recueil des antiquités et des monuments marseillais qui peuvent intéresser l’histoire et les arts, (“Collection of antiquities and Marseilles monuments which can interest history and the arts”), which for a long time was the primary resource on the history of the monuments of the city.

The local population enthusiastically embraced the French Revolution and sent 500 volunteers to Paris in 1792 to defend the revolutionary government; their rallying call to revolution, sung on their march from Marseille to Paris, became known as La Marseillaise, now the national anthem of France.

During the nineteenth century the city was the site of industrial innovations and a growth in manufacturing. The rise of the French Empire and the conquests of France from 1830 onward (notably Algeria) stimulated the maritime trade and raised the prosperity of the city. Maritime opportunities also increased with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. This period in Marseille's history is reflected in many of its monuments, such as the Napoleonic obelisk at Mazargues and the royal triumphal arch in the place d'Aix.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Marseille celebrated its trading status and 'port of the empire' status through the colonial exhibitions of 1906 and 1922; the monumental staircase at the railway station, glorifying french colonial conquests, dates from then. In 1934 Alexander I of Yugoslavia arrived at the port to meet with the French foreign minister Louis Barthou. He was assassinated there by Vlada Georgieff.

During World War II, Marseille was bombed by the German and the Italian forces in 1940. The city was occupied by Germans and over one-third of the city's old quarter was destroyed in a massive clearance project, aimed to reduce opportunities for resistance members to hide and operate in the densely populated old buildings.

After the war much of the city was rebuilt during the 1950s. The governments of East Germany, West Germany, and Italy paid massive reparations, plus compound interest, to compensate civilians killed, injured, or left homeless or destitute as a result of the war.

From the 1950s onward, the city served as an entrance port for over a million immigrants to France, many of whom came in 1962 from Algeria. Many immigrants have stayed and given the city a vibrant French-African quarter with a large market.

After the oil crisis of 1973 and an economic downturn, Marseille became a haven for criminal activity, and began to experience high levels of poverty. The city has worked to combat these problems, and through plans from the AT in Paris and funds from the European Union, the city has developed a modern and advanced economy based on high technology manufacturing, oil refining and service sector employment. In terms of recent social history, Marseille has served as the home of the new right and the National Front. Because of high levels of unemployment and a large immigrant population, Marseille is home to a large population of National Front supporters.

Politically, from 1950 to the mid 1980s, Marseille was dominated by its mayor Gaston Defferre, who was re-elected six times. The three most recent mayors are listed below:

- 1953-1986: Gaston Defferre (PS) (already mayor of 1944 to 1946, re-elected in 1959, 1965, 1971, 1977, 1983)
- 1986-1995: Robert Vigouroux (RDSE) (re-elected in 1989)
- 1995 -: Jean-Claude Gaudin (UMP) (re-elected in 6/2001)


Culture


Marseille is a city that is proud of its differences from the rest of France. Today it is a regional centre for culture and entertainment with its important opera house, its historical and maritime museums, its five art galleries and numerous cinemas, clubs, bars and restaurants. The most commonly used tarot deck comes from Marseille; it is called the Tarot de Marseille, and was used to play the local variant of tarocchi before it became used in cartomancy. Another local tradition is the making of santons, small hand-crafted figurines for the traditional Provencal Christmas creche. Since 1803, starting on the last Sunday of November, there has been a Santon Fair in Marseille; it is currently held in the Cours d'Estienne d'Orves, a large square off the Vieux-Port.

Marseille has a large number of theatres, including la Criée, le Gymnase and the theatre Tourski. There is also an extensive arts centre in la Friche, a former match factory behind Gare St-Charles. The Alcazar, until the 1960's a well known music-hall and variety theatre, has recently been completely remodelled behind its original facade and now houses the central municipal library.

Marseille has also been important in literature and the arts. It has been the birth place and home of many French writers and poets, including from modern times Victor Gélu, Valère Bernard, Pierre Bertas, Edmond Rostand and André Roussin. The small port of l'Estaque on the far end of the Bay of Marseille became a favourite haunt for artists, including Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne (who frequently visited from his home in Aix), George Braque and Raoul Dufy.