France’s oldest town, nerve-centre of the Mediterranean basin, the Phocaean city blends a smoldering heat with the aromas of the south.
Locals say that « Bonne Mère » watches over them. Perched on the de la Garde hill, the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica looks down over the sprawling city. Built in 1864 the edifice has become the city badge. Since its birth in the 6th Century BC, Massilia - the result of a union between Gyptis, daughter of the king of the Ségobriges and Protis, a Greek navigator from the Asian minor port of Phocea, has incited the desires because of its link between western Europe and the Orient. The growth in trade with the French colonies enabled it to develop furiously in the second half of the 19th Century.
Port of the Mediterranean
Marseille shares with Lyon the status as France’s No 2 city with a population of 800,000. The city has grown into an industrial and services sector hub, but it is still its position as the Mediterranean’s leading port which drives the economy. Although some 3,000 scientists make it France’s No 2 research pole. A young, cosmopolitan population (90,000 students) helps make Marseille a passionate, exuberant city. And the fever will only be stoked up by the Rugby World Cup.
Big Blue and provence
But the land of the playwright Edmond Rostand, comic Fernandel or dancer and choreographer Maurice Béjart is equally conspicuous for its provence identity underscored by the films of Marcel Pagnol. Bouillabaisse (fish soup), aioli (garlic mayonnaise), tapenade (olive spread) , pastis sampled on a terrasse on the old port’s Canebière avenue, football and pétanque (bowls) have become cliches of which the Marseillais are proud. Like the Mediterranean, known as la Grande Bleue (Big Blue), and her riches - the famous Calanques, a wildlife paradise, or the islands of the Archipelago of Riou and Frioul.
Population: 807,000
Agglomeration: 1,350,000
3 universities, 30 faculties and grandes écoles regrouping 90,000 students and 3,000 researchers
Departement: Bouches du Rhône
Region: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
