Marseille, in Occitan Marselha, is a town in the South-East of
France, capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and prefecture of
the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
In 2017, Marseille was
the second largest municipality in France (city-center), with
863,310 inhabitants and the third urban unit with 1,587,537
inhabitants behind Paris and Lyon. Since January 1, 2016, Marseille
has hosted the headquarters of the metropolis of
Aix-Marseille-Provence, the second most populous in France with
1,873,707 inhabitants. Its urban area is, for its part, the third in
France after those of Paris and Lyon with 1,756,296 inhabitants in
2016. These figures make Marseille the largest city in the South of
France, in the cultural region of Occitanie as well. than the
linguistic area of the langue d'oc.
Oldest city in France
founded in the period of Antiquity under the name of Μασσαλία /
Massalía) around 600 BC. by sailors and Greek merchants originating
in Phocée (today near Izmir in Turkey of Asia), Marseilles is since
Antiquity an important port of trade and passage. In particular, it
experienced a considerable commercial boom during the colonial
period and more particularly during the nineteenth century, becoming
a prosperous industrial and trading town.
A legacy of this
past, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) and the maritime
economy constitute major centers of regional and national activity
and Marseille remains the leading French port, the second
Mediterranean port and the fifth European port.
Marseille's openness to the Mediterranean Sea has made
it from its origins a cosmopolitan city marked by numerous cultural
and economic exchanges with Southern Europe, the Middle East, North
Africa and Asia. It has also been often considered since the
seventeenth century, as the “Gateway to the Orient” on the French
Mediterranean coast.
Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean
The Museum
of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (Musée des Civilizations de
l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, in short: MuCEM) was opened on June 7,
2013[40] as part of Marseille's European Capital of Culture.
Villa Mediterranee
The Villa Méditerranée is located next to the
Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations. After being closed
for several years, it reopened in June 2022 and has since presented a
detailed replica of the Cosquer Cave from the nearby Calanques National
Park with cave paintings up to 33,000 years old.
Musee Regards de
Provence
Also as part of the European Capital of Culture, the Musée
Regards de Provence was inaugurated on March 1, 2013 in the former
sanitary station of the Port of Marseille. The building was designed by
Fernand Pouillon in 1948. The permanent exhibition Mémoire de la Station
Sanitaire (Memory of the Sanitary Station) includes a video installation
in the steam room and engine room. The current compilations of pictures,
drawings, photographs and sculptures present works related to Marseille,
Provence and the entire Mediterranean region.
Musée d'Art
Contemporain
The Musée d'Art Contemporain (MAC) (Museum of
Contemporary Art) presents works by contemporary artists in changing
exhibitions, e.g. B. Monographs by Gordon Matta-Clark, Rosemarie
Trockel, Dieter Roth, Franz West and Rodney Graham.
Musee des
Beaux Arts
After reopening in June 2013, the Musée des Beaux-Arts
(Museum of Fine Arts) will focus on paintings from the 17th and 18th
centuries. These include works by Italian masters such as Perugino,
Guercino, Carracci de Pannini and French artists such as Champaigne,
Vouet, Lesueur, Greuze, Vernet, Hubert Robert and David. The Dutchmen
Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens and Frans Snyders are also
represented. The French school of the 19th century is a focal point of
the collection. In addition to his masters Courbet, Corot, Daubigny,
Millet and Puvis de Chavanne, works by representatives of the Marseille
School are shown, including Loubon, Guigou and Ziem. The Inner Voice, a
masterpiece by Auguste Rodin that the sculptor bequeathed to the museum,
and the busts of celebrities such as Juste Milieu or Ratapoil by Daumier
are examples of 19th-century sculpture.
Borely Museum
When the
city of Marseille acquired the Borély country estate with its large park
in the 8th arrondissement in the late 19th century, it set up an
archaeological museum there, which existed until 1989. After extensive
renovation work, the castle has been open again since June 15, 2013 as a
museum for handicrafts, faience and costume history.
Musée
d'Histoire Naturelle
The Musée d'Histoire Naturelle (Natural History
Museum) shows zoological and geological exhibitions and, like the Musée
des Beaux-Arts, is located in the side wings of the Palais Longchamp
(see buildings).
Center de la Vieille Charite
The Center de la
Vieille Charité, the former hospital for the poor, houses the Musée
d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne (Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology) and
the Musée d'arts Africains, Océaniens et Amérindiens (Museum of African,
Oceanic and Amerindian Art).
Musée Cantini
Located in the
bourgeois 6th arrondissement, the Musée Cantini is based on the legacy
of the sculptor Jules Cantini, who also created the marble sculpture on
the Place Castellane and who donated the building and its collection to
the city in 1916. The collection was expanded through purchases,
numerous donations and support from state museums (Musée national
d’artmodern, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Musée National Picasso,
Musée d’Orsay) and today it presents fine art of the 20th century. The
museum regularly hosts temporary exhibitions of contemporary art.
Musée de la Marine et de l'Economie de Marseille
The Palais de la
Bourse (stock exchange), built by Pascal Coste between 1852 and 1860 at
the lower part of the Canebière, near the old port, now houses the Musée
de la Marine et de l'Economie de Marseille (Museum of Seafaring and
Economy). Exhibitions on trade, economy and transport take place there,
but the municipal facility also serves to promote the regional economy.
Musée d'Histoire de Marseille
The Musée d'Histoire de Marseille
(museum of the history of the city) was opened in 1983 and completely
renovated in 2013. It is located in the Center Bourse shopping center
next to the Palais de la Bourse near the Old Port. During the
construction of the Center Bourse in the 1970s, parts of the ancient
port were uncovered, which can be visited in the Jardin des Vestiges
next to the museum.
Mediterranean cinema
Since 2011 there has
been a film museum at the Château de la Buzine dedicated to
Mediterranean cinema.
Notre Dame de la Garde
South of the city center is Notre-Dame de
la Garde, designed by Henri-Jacques Espérandieu in neo-Byzantine style
and built between 1853 and 1864 on the site of a medieval pilgrimage
chapel. It is located on a 147 m high limestone cliff and is the symbol
of Marseille next to the Château d'If in front of the port. "La Bonne
Mère", as it is popularly known, houses a monumental collection of
votive images. From the viewing platforms you have a spectacular view
over the city.
Old Port
In the center of the city is the old
port, Vieux Port. There is a fish market on the Quai des Belges. About
halfway down the route to the Cours Saint-Louis is the Bourse (Palais de
la Bourse), which houses the Musée de la Marine et de l’Économie de
Marseille. At the Musée des Docks Romains were the docks from the first
century AD. The Musée d'Histoire de Marseille is built around some
remains of the ancient port. From the Old Port, small transport ships
and tourist boats leave for the Frioul Islands, consisting of the
islands of Ratonneau, Pomègues and If with the Château d'If. Some ships
sail past the Calanques to Cassis, about 15 kilometers away, with
Europe's highest cliff.
La Canebiere
The former boulevard La
Canebière, which is about one kilometer long, runs north-east from the
old port to the Église des Réformés church. The street name comes from
the Provençal term Canabiero and refers to the trade in hemp Cannabis
sativa. Lined with shops and cafés, the Canebière was once often
compared to Paris' Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Since the 1970s, the
street has been transformed into a busy street due to the increase in
road traffic. Between Cours Belsunce or Cours Saint-Louis and Boulevard
Dugommier / Boulevard Garibaldi, decaying or neglected facades
predominate.
Quartier du Panier
Located just north of the Old
Port in the 2nd arrondissement, the Quartier du Panier is succinctly
called “Panier” by locals. It is the site of the first settlement of
Marseille. The relatively untouched old core of Marseille begins behind
the baroque town hall (Hôtel de ville), which houses the mayor's office
(mairie). The city's windmills have stood on the Place des Moulins, one
of the two hills of ancient Marseille, since early times. The ground
plans of the streets and staircases correspond to a large extent to the
Greek period, new houses were built on the plots and walls of the old
houses. Today's houses are mostly from the 18th, some from the 16th and
17th centuries. On the other high hill of the ancient city, the Greeks
built an agora; today, old bistros line the Place de Lenche on Rue
Saint-Pons. The Cathédrale de la Major, built in neo-Byzantine style
like Notre-Dame de la Garde, is still in the Panier, also to the west of
the Old Port. It was built between 1852 and 1893 and has two domed
towers and a 16 meter high crossing dome.
In the 1960s and 1970s,
new five-story buildings were built on the Quai du Port. Behind it is
another row of residential buildings: Werkbund trailers, a kind of long,
tall small-scale design that is expressed in bay-shaped brick appliqués.
The actual harbor area used to be there, a branched network of
residential buildings from the 17th century, many small alleys and
stairs. The Germans who marched into Marseille in November 1942 saw this
as an element of uncertainty and a "hoard" for the Resistance. In
January 1943, after the so-called "evacuation" of almost 27,000
inhabitants into a prison camp near Fréjus, German troops under the
orders of Field Marshal von Rundstedt began to blow up the harbor
district (1924 building).
The New Port (Port Moderne) extends
behind the Place de la Joliette. The Docks de Marseille located here,
365 meter long warehouses built between 1858 and 1864, were converted
into offices, apartments or event venues as part of the
Euroméditerranée. Shops and restaurants are located on the ground floor
and opened in October 2015.
City radieuse
The first "vertical
city" of the Unité d'Habitation type realized by Le Corbusier between
1947 and 1952 as a forerunner of prefabricated buildings. Shopping
street, café (of the integrated hotel) and roof terrace (with a view of
the mountains surrounding Marseille and the sea) are open to the public;
the café and restaurant seems to have been largely preserved in its
original condition and illustrates the grid-like modular construction
very well.
Parc Borely
Parc Borély is a 17-hectare urban park
in southern Marseille. It essentially consists of three parts: The
Hippodrome, the avenue with the Chateau Borély and an English garden; It
also includes a rose garden, the botanical garden is attached, and the
flood plains of the Huveaune connect almost directly with the sea. A
variety of leisure activities are possible, especially for children
(carousels, Kettcar rental, etc.). The Chateau Borély houses the Musée
des Arts Décoratifs, de la Faïence et de la Mode.
Palais du Pharo
The Palais du Pharo is a palace built by Emperor Napoleon III. Palace
built for his wife Eugénie. It overlooks the port passage of the Vieux
Port and borders the Jardin du Pharo.
By plane
Marseille-Provence Airport (aéroport Marseille-Provence,
IATA: MRS) is located about 15 km north-west of the city in the
municipality of Marignane. It is one of the largest airports in southern
France. From Marignane Airport you can reach Marseille (Gare
Saint-Charles) with an express bus in about 25 minutes (8.50 €).
There are good flight connections to Marignane Airport from Munich,
Frankfurt with Lufthansa/Lufthansa City Line and Düsseldorf with
Eurowings. In addition, almost every major airport in France is served
(connecting flights to Germany via Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg). MRS is also
the most important hub for flights to Corsica.
By train
Marseille St. Charles train station is the terminus of the
TGV-Méditerranée route, which connects the city with Avignon and Lyon.
Paris can be reached in just over three hours (every hour during the
day). To the north there are i.a. direct TGV connections to Lille,
Brussels, Lyon, Nantes, Rennes, Toulouse (via Avignon-TGV), Le Havre,
Frankfurt am Main via Strasbourg and Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle.
To
the east, both TGV and conventional long-distance and regional trains
run on a route via Aubagne and Bandol to Toulon (here very frequent
intervals) and on via Nice and Monaco to Italy (partly direct trains to
Ventimiglia). Due to the low train prices in Italy, traveling from
southern Germany is often cheaper this way.
There are also hourly
regional train connections to Avignon (note: different routes!),
sometimes extended to Lyon or even Paris (journey time approx. 12
hours!). The only main line in France runs east-west via Arles and
Nimes, which does not go via Paris. There are several daily connections
to Montpellier and on to Narbonne-Perpignan (at night also directly to
Port Bou in Spain) and Carcassonne- Toulouse-Bordeaux offered.
Finally, there is a comparatively badly served route to Aix-en-Provence
(the Cartreize bus is recommended here), which leads from there to the
Alps (Gap-Briançon-Grenoble).
The French tariff system is very
opaque, so that the cheapest price can usually only be requested. In
particular, however, reference should be made to the website of the
French railways, where cheap offers (Paris-Marseille from €19, etc.) can
be purchased.
By bus
Marseilles bus station is located north
of the main train station and now has direct access from the station
building. There are bus connections to almost every town in Provence
(possibly with a change in Aix-en-Provence), but it should be noted that
the last buses leave around 7 p.m. in the evening. Only Aix-en-Provence
is served until midnight.
The express bus to the airport leaves
from bays 13 and 14 in the bus station, ticket office (English spoken)
directly opposite in the main train station.
The French railways,
in cooperation with the Regional Council, also carry out bus services,
particularly in the direction of Aix and beyond to the Alps. There are
also connections to the east (to Nice). The prices are more expensive
compared to the train. however, you often get to your destination
faster.
Marseille is also connected to the eurolines/Deutsche
Touring network, so there are direct connections to Frankfurt and
Berlin. Italy, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Morocco
also have direct bus connections with Marseille.
On the street
Marseille forms the terminus of the "Autoroute du Soleil" A7, which
(starting in Paris as A6) connects Lyon with Valence, Montélimar and
Avignon and merges into city traffic at Porte d'Aix at Place Jules
Guèsde after 310 km. It is toll-free from Salon-de-Provence.
Just
past Marseille-Provence Airport, which you'll pass northbound, there's
also an option to join the A55, which is considered less congested and
leads directly to the Old Port. If you only want to drive through the
city (direction Toulon), it is strongly recommended to use the A55,
since two tunnels (Tunnel du Vieux-Port, Tunnel du Prado-Carénage
(MAUT!)) lead directly to the following motorway.
In/from
Aix-en-Provence you can take the toll-free A51 to the motorway triangle
at St. Antoine, where you join the A7 [Attention, there are stationary
radar systems here: Tempo 90!].
For trips beyond St. Tropez,
despite the more scenic drive along the coast (A50 to Toulon-West, A57
from Toulon-East), we recommend driving via Aix-en-Provence and the A8
towards Fréjus, Cannes, especially in an easterly direction and Nice,
otherwise Toulon has to be passed through (no bypass). There is a tunnel
under the center to the west.
To the west there is also the
toll-free motorway in the direction of Martigues, which becomes a
four-lane main road there. It forms the main connection towards the
Camargue, Montpellier and Spain (alternatively, you can also drive via
Salon and the A8 - subject to a toll and longer).
By boat
From
the new port, the Port de la Joliette, there are regular ferries to
North Africa (Algiers, Oran, Béjaja, Skikda, Annaba, Tunis, Souuse,
Sfax, Bizerte, Tangier), to Corsica (Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi, Ile-Rousse,
Propriano , Porto-Vecchio) and to Sardinia (Porto-Torres, partly via
Corsica).
Due to the long journey times and consequently higher
prices, the possibility of a land transfer to Toulon or Nice should also
be considered when traveling to (East) Corsica. However, (former)
islanders benefit from special tariffs, especially from Marseille, which
explains the very good connections with the island despite the
competition from planes and other ports.
cruise ships
The port
has three docking points for ships, where 10 ships can dock at the same
time. A description of how to get to the cruise terminal can be found
here.
The port of call La Joliette, in close proximity to the
city center, was previously reserved for smaller premium-class yachts
for stopovers on a holiday trip, but now cruise ships up to a length of
220 meters can also dock. Near the terminal there is the tram and metro
station Joliette, as well as bus lines 35, 49 and 55.
The Terminal du
Cap Janet for ships up to 220 meters in length as a port of call or port
of call.
The Môle Léon Gourret port and its terminal, which can
accommodate the largest passenger ships on the quay.
Local public transport
Marseille has two metro lines and two tram
lines, as well as many bus lines that ensure connections to the suburbs
and the surrounding area. There is an overview map for metro and tram as
a pdf. A German-language description exists here.
metro
-
Métro 1 starts in the north-east (La Rose), crosses the city in an arc
(serves the main train station "St-Charles" and the old port "Vieux
Port", among others), to turn east again and via hospital "La Timone”
and the second most important train station “La Blancarde” to “La
Fourragère”.
- Métro 2 starts in the north-west (Bougainville)
and crosses the city south-east to the station "Sainte-Marguerite
Drômel". In particular, it serves the "Joliette" (ferry) port, the
"St-Charles" train station and the "Rond-Point du Prado", from which you
can reach the city beach at the Prado by bus and the main entrance of
the Stade Vélodrome on foot.
Both lines meet in "Castellane" and
at the main train station. They run Mon-Thu from approx. 5 a.m. to 9
p.m., Fri-Sun approx. 5 a.m. to midnight.
bus lines
Most of
the bus routes depart from the "Centre Bourse" near the old port and
from Place de Castellane. The rtm transport company has an information
office at the Center Bourse for up-to-date changes. Traffic plan metro,
tram and buses
Bus lines 35 (to l'Éstaque), 60 (to the church of
Nôtre-Dame-de-la-Garde "Bonne Mère") and 83 (along the Corniche) are
particularly interesting for tourists, all of which are direct (from
various bus stops!). exit at the old port (not at the Center Bourse!).
To get to the calanques, it is advisable to take bus 21 from Center
Bourse to the terminus "Luminy" (journey time approx. 45 minutes), bus
20 (from Montrédon, can be reached by bus 19 from Prado) to Callelongue
or bus 22 from Prado to the Les Baumettes terminus. From the terminal
stations, however, the visitor still has to walk about 1 hour to the
sea!
tram
A single journey that can be used on all networks
for 60 minutes costs €1.80, and €2.00 from the bus driver. There are
also "stripes" (10 trips: €13.60), group tickets for 4 people (€4.90),
day tickets (€5.20), 3-day tickets (€10.80), which preferably can be
purchased from the machine (when buying on the bus, the money is only
accepted after counting it). The tickets are booked on a magnetic card,
which means that the ticket is €0.10 more expensive the first time it is
booked. Attention: The tickets must be validated at the beginning of
each journey, even after a change! They are to be retained for this
purpose and kept in a legible condition. (as of May 2018)
For the
very cheap weekly and monthly tickets (1 month approx. 43 €) you need a
passport photo, an address (write down the hotel address!) and good
knowledge of French. "Zones" or "rings" known from Germany do not exist.
A single ticket allows 60 minutes of free travel throughout the network.
In contrast to Paris, you can change between subways and buses as you
like, don't forget to validate your ticket again, this does not count as
an additional journey, but if you don't do it, you're doing fare
illegally.
By car
Although the car certainly has invaluable
advantages, it is worth considering going to Marseille (or the city
center) by car:
- The historic center of the city is relatively
small and easily explored on foot - Parking pressure is high. Finding a
parking space is like winning the lottery - confusing streets (one-way
streets!) - risk of theft (especially in the "Quartiers Nord", but also
in the city center) - the southern driving style is not for everyone -
and last but not least: Marseillais, whether pedestrian or Drivers don't
care too much about traffic signs, including traffic lights. So be
careful when the traffic light is green!
Conclusion: An
invaluable advantage for trips to the Calanques, to l'Éstaque or
Provence, for Marseille itself it's more of a millstone.
On foot
City maps are available free of charge in different languages from the
Office du Tourisme in the Old Port and also contain some interesting
suggestions for visits. Large parts of Marseille (including interesting
parts of the city such as the Panier or Noailles) are best explored on
foot.
With the (rental) bike
If you are not put off by the
sometimes chaotic traffic, you can explore Marseille very well outside
of the direct city center area (e.g. for the beach, a visit to the St.
Pierre cemetery or the dock district) by bike. Marseille has the
well-developed and inexpensive rental bike system Le Vélo. You can take
a bike at any station and park it at any other station, the first half
hour is even free (as of March 2013). Unfortunately, the only hurdle is
the French-speaking navigation at the rental machines (as of March 2013)
and a French-speaking telephone hotline.
The bikes are robust and
easy to use, the following tips could be heeded:
Choose a bike at the
rental stations before booking
Check: Externally OK? Air pressure OK?
Actuate both brake handles once: Do you feel a pressure point or maybe a
cable has snapped? Can the twist grip of the shifter be actuated? Can
the seat post be adjusted (push in the button, then move the seat post)?
A deposit of €150 is announced via the EC card: This is like in Germany
with fuel dispensers and describes a maximum. In fact, only the usage
fee is charged. In any case, you should keep the receipt.
It goes
without saying, as with all other vehicles: Outside the rental station,
connect well and, if possible, monitored (lock is attached to the bike).
Best of all: simply return it to the next rental station and you won't
have any more stress.
When returning, make sure that the machine
confirms the return (long beep).
In case of problems for guests who
do not speak French, contact the tourist office.
Then the traffic
information in addition to above: Drive defensively. Things are
colorful, but unlike in Germany, road users rarely insist on their right
of way and harass weaker road users (cars against cyclists or
pedestrians, cyclists against pedestrians). A cycle path is therefore
only a basis for negotiation, it is also used by pedestrians. With
respect and communication, cycling in Marseille is great fun!
Barrier-free
In a study published in 2005, Marseille was voted one of
the least adapted cities in France for the needs of disabled people.
From the sights to the metro, hardly anything is equipped.
The La Bourse shopping center is less than a 5-minute walk from the
Vieux Port. It is similar in style to an American mall and offers
shopping for almost everything imaginable. Among other things, you will
find a branch of FNAC with a ticket office.
If you walk up the
Canebière from the Vieux Port, after about 500 meters you will find a
pedestrian zone on the right, where you will find a large selection of
shops.
At the Vieux Port there is a small fish market and a much
larger market for souvenirs such as soaps, ceramics, bags and whatever
else tourists like to buy.
Marseille has long had a dingy and dangerous reputation among both
French and visitors. As far as the city center is concerned, this is no
longer the case and taking into account the usual precautions regarding
pickpocketing (which is quite common) and the sometimes hectic traffic,
Marseille can be visited without any problems during the day.
The
suburbs (banlieues), which should be enjoyed with caution, are mostly
far away and can be recognized quickly by the proliferating prefab
buildings. Tourists should generally avoid these (particularly the
northern quarters and the main street Boulevard Michelet in the south),
but are not worth seeing anyway - the football station is also here,
however.
At night, it is important to move around the busy main
streets and to avoid dark, empty alleys - especially around the main
train station, it is not uncommon to meet homeless people in front of
the graffiti-decorated facades, from whom one should keep a little
distance. One should also have respect from football fans of Olympique
Marseille, they are often violent.
Basically, you don't have to invest huge sums of money to get an
attractive meal in Marseille. There are countless restaurants that offer
menus at reasonable prices - less than 10 €, especially at lunchtime
(practically as a "bait offer", since the restaurants are hardly
frequented at this time). The palette ranges from traditional offerings
to Italian and Indian cuisine. The only basic rule: Avoid the seemingly
inviting restaurants and bistros right on the Vieux Port! A veritable
culinary mass processing of tourists takes place here. It is advisable
to orient yourself away from the port and the Canebière and to look for
a suitable restaurant in the narrow streets. Even if it often doesn't
seem like it, the small, unassuming restaurants usually offer the best
cuisine by far.
Bouillabaisse is Marseille's most famous dish.
Originally, bouillabaisse is a dish that fishermen used to make with
fish they couldn't sell. Over the years, however, the recipe has been
refined to such an extent that today bouillabaisse often becomes an
expensive luxury dish. The various components of the bouillabaisse are
served separately, the fish on a plate and the bouillon in a separate
bowl. Everyone can put together fish and bouillon according to their
personal taste. The sauces rouille and/or aïoli are served with it, as
well as croutons rubbed with garlic.
Navette (cf. French
Wikipedia) is a sweet, oblong biscuit from Marseille, which is
traditionally flavored with orange, but is now available with different
flavors.
Fonfon, 140, Vallon des Auffes. Tel: (0)4 91 52 14 38,
Fax: (0)4 91 52 14 16, Email: contact@chez-fonfon.com. Excellent but
very expensive bouillabaise. This eatery is not only known for the food
and the great location on a small bay, but also as a filming location
for the crime classic "The French Connection" Open: Open daily for lunch
and dinner: 12-13:45 and 19: 15-21:45. Price: Bouillabaise menu 50 euros
p.p.
The aniseed liqueur Kristall is now made by the Limiñana
brothers with other products in Marseille. The liqueur is made only from
aniseed, with no other additives, so it stays white when water is added.
Marseille lies between 0 and 652 m (12 m at the official center of
Noailles) in altitude. The 240 square kilometer urban area (more than
twice the size of Paris) includes not only the built-up area but also
large natural areas, especially mountains. The city is bordered on the
west by the Mediterranean Sea, on the north by the Chaîne de l'Estaque
and Chaîne de l'Etoile mountains (with the summit of l'Etoile being the
highest point in the city), on the east by the Garlaban massif, on the
south-east from the Saint-Cyr massif and to the south, the Massif des
Calanques, in turn on the Mediterranean.
Due to its location,
Marseille has a Mediterranean climate that is very sunny and rarely
rains. The reason for this are the often strong winds, especially the
Mistral, which is why the climate can sometimes be rough despite the
southern location.
The first vestiges of human presence in the
Marseillais basin date back to around 60,000 BC (Middle
Paleolithic). In the Upper Paleolithic, the Cosquer cave, then not
submerged, was occupied between 27,000 and 19,000 before the
present. In addition, in June 2005, excavations brought to light the
remains of a Neolithic settlement dating back to 6000 BC, near the
Saint-Charles station, around rue Bernard du Bois. Fragments of
pottery found on the south shore of the Old Port attest to human
occupation of the site in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. In the
Paleolithic, populations lived in this area, as evidenced by the
presence of a habitat on a hillside adjoining the Riaux
(watercourse). We ate seafood, the products of hunting and gathering
(the caves, numerous, and the surrounding oppida are worthy of
interest in Estaque as in Martigues, on the site of La Cloche, or of
Verduron).
The cliffs and caves were occupied around the bed
of the Riaux (watercourse), vestiges found in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries prove human activity dating from the
Magdalenian, that is to say between −17,000 and −10,000 years,
period of the hunters. pickers.
Max Escalon de Fonton,
archaeologist, discovered cut flint (blades, scrapers), animal bones
(ibex, lynx, bear, wolf), a necklace of perforated shells as well as
other remains from this period, as well as 'a decorated pottery
dated −6,000 years old, and the burial of a teenager in a folded
position.
In the Crispine cave in the hills of the Les Riaux
district were found “perforated pebbles, a very large hearth,
Mesolithic pottery in black earth, small scrapers and many
coprolites of canids (fossil excrement).
Caves with
intentional burials are little known in the Marseille region. The
one called "the Crispine" is difficult to access, because it is
currently on a site in decontamination, however in this Nerthe so
little studied by archaeologists, Clastrier discovered a deposit of
great interest whose objects have been bequeathed at the historical
institute of Provence.
This cave is located in the Nerthe
range on the property of the Chemical Products Company of Rio Tinto,
its average altitude is around 150 m. It almost overlooks the
entrance to the tunnel that pierces the mountain at this point and
connects Marseille to the Rhône. In the country, this cave is called
Crispine or Crispin. This name could come from Christ-Pinis (Christ
in the pines), because in 1793, under the Terror, the Catholics
secretly went to hear mass there.
The entrance to this cave
has an ogival shape. Long used as a sheepfold, a wall pierced with a
door partly farmhouse, it measures 17.50 m long and 10 m wide.
Mr. Clastrier would have met an old excavation trench (of
unknown origin) (possibly from Marion or Fourrier). Discovery of
traces of modern habitation, some bricks, a shepherd's lodge, and in
the middle a beautiful square wheel rounded by human labor, some
bones, large shells, goat horn.
On his return, Clastrier
would have taken steps to obtain authorization to pass through the
factories of Rio-Tinto to continue exploration, he would then have
discovered a fragment of Neolithic or Ligurian pottery, then in a
rather narrow passage, he discovered early flint but also bone
debris that would correspond to the local fauna, as well as food and
meal scraps, sheep teeth, broken and burnt bones, sea shells,
limpets, charred wood and coals . But especially knives, scrapers,
primitive tools that would have been used in the Neolithic period.
Also human bones. "The sought-after relic I found under my fingers.
O, how delicately I dig up a head lying on the right side, the mask
is regular, the normal type, the jawbone is missing; four strong
teeth remained worn and rounded at the edges; the subject has lived
for many years. What a surprise ! Once the head is out, all the
underside is burned, then all around this head, half-cooked mixed
with black earth, bones of large and medium vertebrae, burned and
broken but also vases without crumbs, amulets , objects that
belonged to the deceased and thrown there in a funeral ceremony
which is unknown to us ”.
Massalia, Greek city
The original topography of the site of
the Greek city is still largely visible today, despite the important
modifications of the nineteenth century. A promontory surrounded by
the sea, the site is dominated by three successive buttes: the Butte
Saint-Laurent (26 meters above sea level in 1840), the Butte des
Moulins (42 meters) and the Butte des Carmes (about 40 meters).
Foundation of the city: the legend of Gyptis and Protis
The
founding of Marseille, which dates back to around 600 BC. J. - C.,
is the fact of Greek colonists come from Phocée, (today Foça in
Turkey); this population was particularly favored by the Phocaeans
fleeing the Persian invasions in 546 BC.
The exact conditions
of the founding of the city are unknown except for the legend
reported by two ancient authors: Justin and Aristotle.
According to Justin, the territory which today forms Marseille was
occupied by a tribe of the Ligurians, that of the Ségobriges, which
would have settled towards the current Allauch. Two Greek navarchs,
Protis and Simos, arrived with their fleet to establish a commercial
base in the natural port of Lacydon and participate in the trade in
tin and amber. On the day of the arrival of the Greeks, the chief of
the Ligurian tribe, Nanos, organized a feast during which his
daughter Gyptis had to choose her husband by handing him a cup of
water. The Greeks were invited to join in the banquet and the young
leader of these, Protis, was chosen, thus sealing the foundation of
a new city which he erected on the edges of the horn of Lacydon.
The date of this founding meeting given by various ancient
authors is -600, with variations.
If most of the elements of
the story come from legend, archaeological discoveries corroborate
the presence of Phocaean colonists in Lacydon bay in the sixth
century BC.
This myth could however be contradicted by the
interpretation of recent excavations on the site of the oppidum of
Saint-Blaise. Indeed, according to Jean Chausserie-Laprée, chief
heritage curator of the City of Martigues, the archaeological
findings published in 2019 could indicate that this oppidum, located
on the mouth of the Rhône, about fifty kilometers from the ancient
port of Marseile, was the capital of the Ségobriges, and that the
Phocaeans had therefore met the Gauls and installed their first
fortress there, before founding Marseille.
Evolution of
Massalia
Archaeological excavations have revealed the remains of
the first traces of Greek habitat directly in contact with virgin
soil on the westernmost part of the Butte Saint-Laurent. Very
quickly the city grew and extended to the eastern slope of the Butte
des Moulins. Finally, it includes the third hill (Carmelites) before
the end of the sixth century BC. A last extension during the
Hellenistic period allows it to reach an area of approximately 50
hectares, which the city will not exceed before the seventeenth
century.
The Greek fortification at the end of the 6th
century BC was found at two points in the city: in the Jardin des
Vestiges and on the Butte des Carmes, during emergency excavations
in the 1980s. A reconstruction took place in the classical Greek
period, in the second half of the 4th century BC and, around the
middle of the 2nd century BC, the entire fortification is rebuilt in
large apparatus of pink limestone. This rampart is still visible in
the Jardin des Vestiges.
The interior of the city is divided
into blocks, with streets at right angles which constitute coherent
sets, adapted to the natural topography of the site. Thus along the
shore the tracks have changing axes, while the slopes of mounds are
squared in a regular way.
Outside the walls, recent
excavations have revealed a cadastral register established at the
end of the sixth century BC, as well as the exploitation of clay
quarries which was abundantly in the geological substrate (site of
the Alcazar); subsequently a culture of vines and probably other
plantations develops in the same location. The necropolises are
known either by ancient discoveries or by the excavation, in 1990,
of the Sainte-Barbe park.
Greek Marseilles experienced strong growth and became a
prosperous city, living strong trade relations with Greece, Egypt,
Asia Minor then Rome. The city is independent and is administered
freely: it is governed by a directory of 15 "first" chosen from
among 600 senators (Strabo, IV, 1,5). Three of them had preeminence
and most of the executive power.
Marseille is the starting
point for the spread of writing among the Gallic peoples, who
learned to transcribe their own language into Greek characters and
to write their own acts in Greek. It is also probably through
Marseille that the first vineyards were introduced into Gaul.
Marseille is then surrounded by an oppida belt, of which we
cannot determine whether some acted as protection against those
further north, even if the hypothesis was put forward by François
Villard: there does not seem to be any ties of belonging. , except
for the Mayans whose structure suggests that it housed a garrison,
probably Greek. There are many exchanges with them as evidenced by
the coins found on the Baoux Roux site, on the other side of the
Étoile.
We note:
on the Garlaban: Colline du Château,
Peynaou, Ruissatel, the Bec Cornu, the Baou des Gouttes, the Gavots,
on the Regagnas: Le Tonneau, Saint Jacques, Baou de la Gache
on
the Étoile: the Cride, the Tête de l'Ost, the Baou Roux, the Mayans
(Camp Jussiou), the baou de Saint Marcel and the Collet Redon on the
south-eastern slope
on the Estaque range: Verduron (Camp Long?),
Teste Negre, la Cloche, followed by others clearly independent and
as old if not more, as far as Martigues and beyond.
Marseilles and Rome
At the start of the Second Punic War, Scipio
was sent by Rome to protect Massilia, a city ally, the supposed
target of Hannibal whom he thought he would find towards the
Pyrenees, and thus block his passage by the coast. Hannibal, failed
to put the Gallic tribes on his side and his troops are attacked
from the Iberian Peninsula, but he is already further north. The
tribes of the region of Massilia, future Provincia, allies of Rome,
are avoided around the middle of August 218 BC 38,000 infantrymen,
8,000 cavalrymen and 37 elephants could have besieged Massilia who
crossed the Rhône four days' march north of Marseille, or at the
height of the current village of Caderousse. When Scipio understands
his mistake, he lets his troops continue on Iberia but returns to
prepare the legions in the Po plain. Massilia is spared.
In
181 BC, the Phocaean Massaliotes and their Hellenic-Celtic Cavares
allies from the Cavaillon-Avignon-Orange region called on Rome for
help against the Ligurian pirates.
During the third century
BC, Marseilles finds itself confronted with the growing power of its
Gallic neighbors, in particular of Salyens. To face their threat,
the city still calls on its ally Rome, which has become the great
Mediterranean power.
The real conquest did not begin until
120 BC, with the military campaign of the Roman proconsul Gaius
Sextius Calvinus, who saw part of the oppidda razed to the north of
Massilia. But the province does not receive its official status
until after the passage of Pompey in the 70s BC Colony to compete
with Massillia, Aquae Sextiae (Aix), was founded in 122 BC.
Client of Julius Caesar and Pompey, Marseille refused in -49 to
take part in Caesar's civil war, while welcoming Pompey's
emissaries. Beaten at sea and besieged by three legions for two
months by Caesar and then by his legate Caius Trebonius, the city is
taken (Bellum Civile, Book I, 34-36, etc.), deprived of its colonies
and must submit to Rome. The Romans attached it to the Narbonnaise
province. The remainder of the remaining oppida was then probably
razed (La Cloche). At the time of Augustus, the city experienced a
new major phase of construction. The agora-forum has been rebuilt as
evidenced by the fragments of paving discovered by Fernand Benoit
south of the Caves of Saint-Sauveur. The forum is bordered to the
west by another large building, the theater, a few steps of which
have been preserved to this day in the grounds of the College of the
Old Port. Thermal baths are installed along the port: the remains,
brought up on Place Villeneuve-Bargemon, are now visible almost in
their original location behind the Town Hall.
During the High
Empire, the port area is considerable: it extends over the north
shore of the Lacydon calanque, follows the port horn (Jardin des
Vestiges) whose quay was rebuilt in the Flavian era, and continues
at the end of the current Old Port. In this area, the excavations of
the Place Général-de-Gaulle have revealed a large stony esplanade
which may correspond to developed saltworks. Many dolia warehouses
are known; part of one of them has been preserved on the ground
floor of the Museum of Roman Docks.
Then, during the Lower
Empire, the city seemed to decline slightly, probably in favor of
Arles.
879 the place fell to Lower Burgundy. Destroyed by the Saracens, the
city was rebuilt in the 10th century and placed under the Vicomtes de
Marseille. Between 1216 and 1218 Marseille became an independent
republic. But when Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX. of
France, Count of Provence, he submitted to Marseille. It is considered
certain that the Black Death was brought to Western Europe via Marseille
in the 14th century. In 1423 Alfonso V of Aragon conquered and
devastated the city. René Count of Provence rebuilt it and after the
death of his successor, Count Charles of Maine, it became part of the
French crown in 1481. It defended itself against Constable Charles de
Bourbon in 1524 and against Emperor Charles V in 1536. During the
Huguenot Wars it sided with the Catholic League and was one of the most
stubborn of all French cities. In 1575 it was finally handed over to
Henry III, which the residents celebrated for a long time with a
procession every year. Louis XIV stripped the city of its liberties in
1660, and Marseille has been an ordinary sea and trading city ever
since.
Despite strict safety precautions, the plague was brought
in by ship in 1720. By spring 1721, 35,000 people died here in the last
major eruption. The Paris government sent troops to seal off the city. A
guarded wall 27 kilometers long was built south of Mont Ventoux.
Nevertheless, around 85,000 people died in Languedoc and Provence. In
connection with this serious epidemic, the king appointed a military
commandership, a "plague police", to the city councilors to get the
situation under control. The city thus had a double lead. The urban area
has been divided into different areas to ensure surveillance and reduce
the risk of contamination.
The people of Marseille have always
been proud and independent and known throughout the country for their
willingness to rebel against the authorities and the king. In 1792, for
example, the city sent 500 volunteer fighters to support the new
government during the French Revolution. The song sung by the Marseille
fighters in the streets of Paris became known as the Marseillaise. On
July 14, 1795, the Marseillaise became the French national anthem.
In the 19th century, Marseille grew to become France's most important
port, mainly due to French colonization in Africa and Indochina. The
development and importance of the port increased with the start of
industrialization and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
On
March 23, 1871, with the help of the city police (den gardes civiques),
the crowd took the prefecture building. Following the example of Paris,
a commune was set up in Marseille under the direction of Gaston
Crémieux, which demanded local political autonomy and decentralization,
but was overthrown on April 5 of the same year when troops led by
General Henri Espivent de La Villesboisnet in Marseille invaded and
killed 150 people under the battle cry "Long live Jesus, long live the
Sacred Heart!" 30 people were killed on the part of the government
troops.
From April to November 1922, the Exposition Nationale
Coloniale took place in Marseille. The authorities' decision to allow
the Colonial Show to take place in Casablanca in France métropolitaine
after it was first held in 1915 served to justify France's colonial
policy.
On October 9, 1934, the Yugoslav King Alexander I and the
French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou were killed in front of the stock
exchange by an assassin from the Croatian nationalist Ustasha movement.
In the interwar period, criminal networks of the Corsican mafia gained
influence in local politics. The extent of corruption was evident in the
fire at the Nouvelles Galeries department store on October 28, 1938, in
which the municipal fire brigade failed and 73 people died. The mayor
had to resign and Prime Minister Édouard Daladier placed Marseille under
central government administration. This affair also became synonymous
with the moral depravity of the political elite in the final years of
the Third Republic.
After the French armed forces surrendered to
the Wehrmacht during World War II, Marseille was part of the free zone
administered by the Vichy regime. Although the Vichy regime undertook in
the armistice agreement to extradite emigrants living in its sphere of
influence at the request of the occupying power, Marseille became the
destination of thousands of refugees from the German Reich living in
France, who wanted to leave Europe as quickly as possible, also because
of the many consulates located here wanted to leave for overseas.
However, since the legal means of escape were often shattered, Marseille
was both a place of refuge and a trap for many refugees, from which it
was possible to escape despite a wide range of help from aid committees
and organizations - Quakers, Unitarian Service Committee, Emergency
Rescue Committee and others, but also from people like Lisa and Hans
Fittko, Yvette Prost-Leonhard, Varian Fry or Gilberto Bosques - there
was hardly any escape. Those who had to stay were threatened with the
internment camps in and around Marseille as so-called “enemy aliens”
and, at the latest from 1942, if they were Jews, they were threatened
with deportation to the German extermination camps.
Between
November 1942 and August 1944 (Operation Dragoon) Marseille was occupied
by German troops. In January and February 1943, on Himmler's orders, a
large part of the historic old town (Vieux Port) was blown up by
Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS troops with the participation of Rolf Mühler and
Günter Hellwing. 27,000 residents were forcibly relocated from the old
town, which the occupying power considered a stronghold of the
Resistance (Himmler had demanded 100,000 deportees). 1,640 residents of
the city, including around 800 Jews, were identified as "undesirable and
anti-social elements" and later deported to Reich territory or Poland
and mostly murdered. Buildings were destroyed when the old town was
blown up in 1924. Some of the perpetrators were arrested in 1954 in the
trials against Mühler et al. and against Carl Oberg et al. accused of
these war crimes, many were sentenced to death in absentia without the
French judiciary being able to get hold of them: the Federal Republic of
Germany did not extradite them and did not indict them themselves. This
war crime was never atoned for.
In the first quarter of 1944,
Hitler designated all the important port cities in the west, including
Marseille, as “fortresses”.
On May 27, 1944, American bombers
attacked the German military installations in Marseille. On August 28,
after a week of fighting, the German occupiers surrendered to the troops
of Free France.
The defenders did not fight as fanatically as
required, for example, in orders from the Wehrmacht High Command of
February 1944 on the defense of fortresses. It was ordered to fight "to
the last man" and not to capitulate.
In the strong economic boom of the post-war period (trentes
glorieuses), the city continued to grow and after Algeria gained
independence in 1962, tens of thousands of Algerian French
(pieds-noirs), who had to leave the country, settled in Marseille.
For this purpose, housing estates were built in the north of the
city. Since the 1970s, there have been significant problems with the
simultaneous decline of traditional industries due to structural
change, uncontrolled immigration, increasing crime, pollution and
growing traffic. In 1973, a wave of racist riots against Algerian
immigrants killed up to 100 people and shocked the French public.
Marseille lost 10 percent of its population within ten years due to
emigration, e.g. to the suburbs where the wealthier residents
settled. During this time, the mayors made great efforts to deal
with crime, the large number of illegal immigrants from North Africa
and the decay of the city. Young people from the city's social
hotspots founded French hip-hop in the 1980s.
The image of
the city has been slowly changing since the 1990s. With the urban
renewal project Euromediterrannée, large state funds were invested
in the Marseille economy. Old industrial buildings were dedicated to
cultural purposes, and private investors such as the American
pension fund Lone Star were involved in the project to upgrade the
Rue de la République boulevard, which was created during the Second
Empire, as part of an urban development. The city is making great
efforts to beautify the cityscape, but at the same time faces
criticism that gentrification is driving the less affluent city
dwellers out of the center.
As France's "Gateway to the Mediterranean", Marseille is shaped by immigrants like hardly any other city besides Paris. In the period around 1900, these were mainly Italians, after the Second World War, European-born Algerian French (pieds-noirs, in English "black feet") and residents of the former French colonies in Africa were added. The proportion of foreigners today is around 10 percent, and the proportion of migrants is around 40 percent overall. If previous immigration movements are included, 90 percent of the population have ancestors who are not from France. About every tenth resident of Marseille has ancestors who come from the Comoros. Since the decolonization of the Comoros, Marseille has been a central migration destination for people from there.
In addition to Christian communities, especially the Catholic Church
(Marseille is the seat of an archdiocese), Judaism and Islam play an
important role in the city. Around 30 to 40 percent of Marseille's
population is of Muslim descent, most of whom live in the poorer
neighborhoods to the north of the city, the 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 13th, 14th
and 15th arrondissements. One of the most important figures in Islam in
France, Soheib Bencheikh, Grand Mufti of France, represents a liberal
form of Islam. Recently, fundamentalist currents have also gained
influence.
With around 75,000 Jews, Marseille has the most
important Jewish community outside of Israel on the Mediterranean coast.
Around 5,000 people pray in the 44 synagogues in Marseille every day.
The largest and most important synagogue is the Great Synagogue (Grande
synagogue de Marseille), which is located in the 6th arrondissement.
There are 20 Jewish study centers, 17 Jewish schools, a Bet Din and in
2013 48 rabbis were employed.
Drug-related crime plays a major role, especially in the northern residential areas. Marseille has been shaped by immigration from the Maghreb since the 1950s; many of the immigrants are poor, unemployed or only find work in the informal economy. Traditional sectors such as shipbuilding and heavy industry now offer fewer jobs than they used to (de-industrialization, rationalization). The drug trade often secures an income. The cohesion within and between the immigrant groups has become more fragile, there is a lack of a social structure, which encourages crime. As of 2007, 350 police positions have been eliminated. From 2012 to 2019, the number of police officers rose again from 220 to 450. Since 2018, work has also started on setting up a video surveillance system. The city police now monitor public squares in the city center around the clock with around 1,600 video cameras (as of around 2021).
On November 5, 2018, two dilapidated apartment buildings collapsed on
Rue d'Aubagne in the central district of Noailles, killing eight people.
This brought a long-standing problem to the attention of a broader
public. The increased controls and reports that followed led to the
evacuation of 370 buildings, affecting 3,000 people.
A December
2019 report by the "National High Committee for the Housing of
Disadvantaged Persons" (Haut Comité pour le Logement des Personnes
Défavorisées) on the housing crisis in Marseille states:
« Malgré
des alertes données de toute part depuis de nombreuses années, les
acteurs publics n'ont Jamaica mis en œuvre une politique permettant de
traiter les 40 000 logements indignes et d'assurer le droit au logement
des 100 000 personnes y habitant. »
"Despite the warnings voiced
by all sides for years, political actors have never pursued policies
that would have allowed the 40,000 unworthy homes to be dealt with and
to guarantee the right to housing for the 100,000 people who live in
them."
The Marseille International Fair (Foire Internationale de Marseille)
has been held annually since 1924, by its own account the second largest
fair in France, at the end of September/beginning of October at the Parc
Chanot exhibition center near the Rond-Point du Prado.
The
world's largest pétanque tournament, the Mondial La Marseillaise à
Pétanque, takes place in Marseille every year. In 2006, for example,
4,112 teams with 12,336 players took part.
Since 1979, Marseille
has been the starting point of Marseille – Cassis, one of the most
popular road races in France, on the last Sunday in October.
In
2010, Marseille was elected European Capital of Culture 2013. To this
end, several parts of the city have been extensively restored and
restructured. In 2012, the sixth World Water Forum was held in
Marseille, since Marseille has been the World Water Capital since 1996.
In 2013, the world music festival Babel Med Music took place for the
ninth time in the Docks des Suds with an extensive congress and trade
fair program and numerous concerts.
In addition to the typical French chansons, Marseille is above all a constant in French hip-hop. In the mid-1980s, groups like IAM began to get young people from immigrant families enthusiastic about the new style of music. Today, thanks in large part to Marseille artists, the French hip-hop market is the second largest in the world after that of the United States.
In April 2012, the Parc National des Calanques was officially inaugurated. The national park extends from Marseille to six other communities and serves to protect the Calanques, the coastal limestone mountains including the shore area. In the core zone it covers an area of around 11,200 hectares of land and 78,000 hectares of lake, in the edge zone around 34,000 hectares of land and 145,000 hectares of lake. The protection concept includes an elaborate visitor guide through the installation of marked hiking trails and a strict ban on entering in the event of a forest fire.
Marseille was one of the venues for Rugby World Cup 2007. Rugby World
Cup 2023 is scheduled to host matches again in Marseille.
The
Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque takes place every year on the first
weekend in July.
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique Marseille
was founded in 1899 and is a very successful football club both
nationally and internationally. The home games are played in the
67,000-seat Stade Vélodrome. The club colors are white and azure blue.
Previous achievements:
9× French Champion: 1937, 1948, 1971,
1972, 1989, 1990–1992, 2010
10× French Cup winners: 1924, 1926, 1927,
1935, 1938, 1943, 1969, 1972, 1976, 1989
2× European Cups: Champions
League Winner 1993 and Intertoto Cup Winner 2005
3× French League
Cup: 2010–2012
Mondial la Marseillaise a pétanque
The world's
largest pétanque tournament, the Mondial la Marseillaise à pétanque,
takes place in Marseille every year. It is a tournament open to all
pétanque players. A license is not required to participate. In 2006, for
example, there were 4,112 Équipes (teams) with 12,336 players at the
start. It will be held in Parc Borély, not far from the beach, and the
adjacent areas, with the final always taking place at the Old Port.
Before this tournament, the annual Jeu Provençal championships also take
place in Parc Borely. This is the old, historical version of the Boule
(Pétanque) game that originated in Provence. Here, too, thousands of
players take part, but naturally they come from the southern region
(France).
Economy and regional competences
Significant
branches of industry are the vehicle, machine, metal and food
industries. Marseille has an important seaport, the Marseille Europort.
The shipowner CMA CGM has its headquarters in Tour CMA CGM.
Marseille is also a focal point in the artisanal manufacture of santons.
35 manufacturers (out of 200 in Provence) live in Marseille. At
Christmas time, a market dedicated almost exclusively to this theme
takes place on the Canebière. Les Baumettes prison is located in
Marseille.
The most important newspaper is La Provence.
Proportion of means of transport
In 2019/20, the various means of
transport had the following shares of total traffic (modal split):
private motor vehicle traffic: 40% (−4% compared to 2009), pedestrian
traffic 39% (+2%), public transport 17% (+3%), motorcycle 3 %
(unchanged), bicycle 1% (+0.5%), other 1%.
Long-distance railway
and freight transport
Marseille can be reached via the Méditerranée
high-speed line, which went into operation in 2001, by TGV in about
three hours from Paris (Gare de Lyon), which is 750 km away. Located on
a hill, the Saint-Charles terminal station was opened on January 8, 1848
and has since been expanded to 16 tracks; it forms the central transport
hub of the city. In addition to the TGV trains, there are also numerous
long-distance and regional trains. Since March 2012 there has been a
daily direct connection to and from Frankfurt am Main. The journey time
is just under eight hours, and a pair of Thalys trains runs to Amsterdam
in the summer months.
Between Marseille and Avignon, near
Miramas, is the railway junction with marshalling yard, via which
Marseille, an industrial conurbation and with the largest European port
on the Mediterranean, is connected to the rail freight network.
road traffic
The toll road tunnel Saint-Laurent or Tunnel du
Vieux-Port runs under the southern old town and the Vieux-Port. The
motorways coming from the north are connected to the east bypass of
Marseille via another tunnel (Viaduc de Plombières). A tunnel will
connect the Marseille–Lyon and Marseille–Toulon motorways.
Heavy
traffic is a big problem. Marseille is the city with the most traffic
jams in France.
The means of public transport in Marseille are operated by the Régie des Transports Marseillais (RTM).
The Marseille Metro, opened in 1977 and later extended and upgraded
several times, has two lines. These intersect twice, at Castellane
station and at Saint Charles main station. The route runs in tunnels in
the inner city, outside of the city the trains run on the surface or as
elevated railways on pillars. The cars have air-filled, rail-guided
tires with power supply via power rails. The model here was the Paris
Metro.
In the mid-1990s, the increasing volume of traffic in
Marseille led to the idea of reintroducing the tram, which had
disappeared from the cityscape. Until then, the tram was frowned upon
and was considered outdated and uncomfortable, since the previously
numerous routes that had existed since 1876 had been discontinued from
the middle of the 20th century, except for one line. The decision was
made to renovate the existing route and to build new ones. Since July
2007, the first of what are now three new tram lines has been in
operation on the Euroméditerranée – Les Caillols section. The vehicles
for this were produced from 2006 in Vienna by Bombardier Transportation
Austria. The trams were commissioned on the Wiener Linien test track.
There are over 80 urban bus lines in Marseille. As is typical for
France, they operate in the evenings and on Sundays according to a
significantly reduced timetable. The Calanques can also be reached with
the urban lines. Other lines offer connections to the surrounding area,
including the coastal region with other destinations in the Calanques.
Since June 2016, bus route 82 has been operated with battery buses:
the six Irizar i2e buses used have a transport capacity of 77 people
each.
Marseille Airport (French: Aéroport Marseille Provence), which is important for southern France because it is centrally located, is located 20 kilometers north-west of Marseille and south-east of the Étang de Berre near the town of Marignane. It is served by numerous international airlines, including several German airports.
The port of Marseille is located in the Port Moderne docks, which
were built in 1844. It is one of the main ports for travelers to the
Maghreb and Corsica. Several routes of the companies Corsica Linea
(formerly SNCM) and La Méridionale connect Marseille with Ajaccio and
Bastia on a daily basis; Ile Rousse, Propriano (partly with onward
journey to Porto Torres on Sardinia) and Porto-Vecchio are called at
several times a week. All year round there are weekly ferry connections
with Corsica Linea and Tunisia Ferries to Tunis and with Corsica Linea
and Algérie Ferries to Algiers and Oran. Less frequently, Skikda and
Annaba are also called at.
The port facilities of Marseille
Europort, which are much more important for freight traffic, are located
e.g. in Fos-sur-Mer, about 50 kilometers to the west. A total of around
81 million tons of goods were handled here in 2016, 12.9 million tons of
which were bulk goods. The number of containers handled in 2017 was 1.4
million TEU. Due to the closure of a Total refinery, liquid cargo
throughput in the Westhafen fell to 46.5 million tons.
In 2007, the public bicycle rental Le Vélo was installed, through which bicycles can be rented with an EC or credit card or by registering with the municipal provider. According to him, the stations are no more than five hundred meters apart and are mainly spread across the core of the city and on streets leading to the city centre. Around 1000 bicycles are available at 130 stations. The system works like Vélib' in Paris, but the tariffs are cheaper: the 7-day subscription costs 1 euro, the annual subscription 5 euros, the first half hour is free, each additional hour 1 euro, with an annual subscription 0.50 euros . The offer supports the urban planning focus on the expansion of bicycle traffic with wide cycle paths, especially along the arterial roads and in the new dock district at the port.
As part of the 2013 Capital of Culture region, a so-called metropolitan hiking trail, the European long-distance hiking trail GR 2013, was set up. It leads through the city, its suburbs and its periphery. The path is intended to enable the population to explore all parts of the city on foot - including the otherwise little-used peripheral areas.