}Marseille, (English alt. Marseilles (pronounced in standard French, locally), Provençal Occitan Marselha or Marsiho , Latin Massilia) is the second largest city in France and the third metropolitan area, with 1,516,340 inhabitants at the 1999 census. Located in the former province of Provence and on the Mediterranean Sea, it is France's largest commercial port.

Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région, as well as the préfecture (capital) of the Bouches-du-Rhône département.

History

Ancient

Marseille was founded in 600 B.C. by Greeks[1] from Phocaea as a trading port under the name Μασσαλία (Massalia; see also List of traditional Greek place names). Facing an opposing alliance of the Etruscans, Carthage and the Celts, the Greek colony allied itself with the expanding Roman Republic for protection. The association with the expanding Roman market saw the city thrive by acting as a link between the interior of Gaul, hungry for Roman goods and wine (of which Massilia was steadily exporting by 500 B.C.) Hugh Johnson, Vintage: The Story of Wine pg 40. Simon and Schuster 1989 , and Rome's insatiable slave markets. Under this arrangement the city maintained its independence until the rise of Julius Caesar, when it joined the losing side in civil war, and lost its independence. It was the site of a siege and naval battle. During the Roman times, it was called Massilia.

It was the home port of Pytheas.

Medieval

From the 5th to the 8th century, Marseille faced wars, barbarian invasions, pillages and epidemics which led to its impoverishment and depopulation. During the 11th century the city revived economically and received a religious focus (the 1st "abbé" is elected in the abbey of St Victor).

Modern

A view onto the Old Port.

The Fort Saint Nicolas, overlooking the harbour on the left bank.

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.

Climate

:Mean annual temperature: 15 °C :Average temperature in January: 7 °C :Average temperature in July: 23 °C :Average annual precipitation: 550 mm

Economy

Marseille's harbor is the biggest in France and one of the most important of the Mediterranean Sea.

Administration

Marseille is divided into 16 municipal arrondissements, which are themselves divided into quartiers (111 in total). The arrondissements are regrouped, in pairs, into 8 sectors, with each sectors having a council and a town hall (like the arrondissements in Paris and in Lyon).

The municipal elections are carried out by sector. Each sector elects its councillors (303 in total), one third of which are municipal councillors.

The arrondisements and secteurs of Marseille

Number of councilors elected by sector:

Sector	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Sector councilors	22	16	22	30	30	26	32	202
Municipal councilors	11	8	12	13	15	13	16	100
Total number of elected officials	33	24	33	42	45	39	48	303

The last mayors of Marseille

* 1953-1986 : Gaston Defferre (already mayor between 1944 and 1946, relected in 1959, 1965, 1971, 1977, 1983)
* 1986-1995 : Robert Vigouroux PS (relected in 1989)
* 1995- : Jean-Claude Gaudin UMP (relected in 2001)

Vieux port in Marseille

A view of the boulevard d'Athènes from the Saint-Charles railway station

The Sector Mayors :
* 1st sector (1st and 7th arrondissements): Jean Roatta (Representative) UMP
* 2nd sector (2nd and 3rd arrondissements): Lisette Narducci (General Councilor) PS
* 3rd sector (4th and 5th arrondissements): Bruno Gilles (representative) UMP
* 4th sector (6th and 8th arrondissements): Dominique Tian (representative) UMP
* 5th sector (9th and 10th arrondissements): Guy Teissier (representative) UMP
* 6th sector (11th and 12th arrondissements): Roland Blum (representative) UMP
* 7th sector (13th and 14th arrondissements): Garo Hovsepian PS
* 8th sector (15th and 16th arrondissements): Frédéric Dutoit (representative) PCF

The cantons of Marseille :

Marseille holds 25 of the 58 seats at the general council of the Bouches-du-Rhône. Since the last election, these 25 cantons are held by the following councilors:
* Marseille-La,Belle-de-Mai (pop. 25,878); General Councilor: Lisette Narducci PS (Mayor of the 2ème sector de Marseille)
* Marseille-Belsunce (pop. 27,992); General Councilor: Fortuné Sportiello PS
* Marseille-La,Blancarde (pop. 30,168); General Councilor Maurice Di Nocera UDF
* Marseille-Le,Camas (pop. 27,506); General Councilor: Antoine Rouzaud PS (Municipal councilor of Marseille)
* Marseille-La,Capelette (pop. 34,292); General Councilor: Janine Ecochard PS
* Marseille-Les,Cinq-Avenues (pop. 29,846); General Councilor: Marie-Arlette Carlotti PS (Representative européenne)
* Marseille-Les,Grands-Carmes (pop. 29,060); General Councilor: Jean-Noël Guerini PS (Sénateur, Président du Conseil Général, Municipal councilor of Marseille)
* Marseille-Mazargues (pop. 35,890); General Councilor: Didier Réault UMP
* Marseille-Montolivet (pop. 33,644); General Councilor: Maurice Rey UMP
* Marseille-Notre-Dame-du-Mont (pop. 31,107); General Councilor: Jocelyn Zeitoun PS
* Marseille-Notre-Dame-Limite (pop. 33,472); General Councilor: Joël Dutto PCF
* Marseille-Les,Olives (pop. 27,052); General Councilor: Marius Masse PS
* Marseille-La,Pointe-Rouge (pop. 31,116); General Councilor: Richard Miron UMP
* Marseille-La,Pomme (pop. 38,701); General Councilor: René Olmeta PS (Municipal councilor of Marseille)
* Marseille-La,Rose (pop. 33,206); General Councilor: Félix Weygand PS
* Marseille-Saint-Barthélemy (pop. 37,629); General Councilor: Denis Rossi PS (Municipal councilor of Marseille)
* Marseille-Sainte-Marguerite (pop. 36,868); General Councilor: Didier Garnier UMP
* Marseille-Saint-Giniez (pop. 34,621); General Councilor: Martine Vassal UMP (Adjointe au Maire de Marseille)
* Marseille-Saint-Just (pop. 32,749); General Councilor: Michel Pezet PS (Municipal councilor of Marseille)
* Marseille-Saint-Lambert (pop. 26,218); General Councilor: Robert Assante UMP (Adjoint au Maire de Marseille)
* Marseille-Saint-Marcel (pop. 29,981); General Councilor: Jean Bonat PS (Municipal councilor of Marseille)
* Marseille-Saint-Mauront (pop. 40,392); General Councilor: Jeanine Porte PCF
* Marseille-Les,Trois,Lucs (pop. 25,324); General Councilor: Christophe Masse PS (Representative)
* Marseille-Vauban (pop. 29,668); General Councilor: André Malrait UMP
* Marseille-Verduron (pop. 35,752). General Councilor: Henri Jibrayel PS

Demographics

The vast majority of the Marsellaise are descendants of the waves of immigrants that arrived at the port in the early 19th century. Among the ethnic groups of Marseillaise are Armenians, Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Arabs, Jews, Russians and North Africans. Approximately 25 per cent of Marseille's population is of North African origin, mostly Algerian, and Tunisian. The Jewish community is also the third largest in Europe.

Culture

The place du Général de Gaulle in Marseille.

Madonna and Child statue on the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde.

Musée des Beaux Arts, Marseille.

The Église des Réformés church

Jeanne d'Arc statue in Marseille.

The French national anthem "La Marseillaise" is named for the troops from Marseille.

The most widely circulated 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.

Music

* The French rap band IAM is from Marseille
* Fonky Family
* Massilia Sound System
* Watcha Clan
* Paul Mauriat
* André Pascal

Movies set in Marseille

Marseille has been the setting of films, both Hollywood and local French films. This is a list of films set in Marseille in alphabetical order.
* 37°2 le matin (1986)
* Baise-moi (2000)
* Bye-Bye (1995)
* Comme un aimant (2000)
* Gomez & Tavarès (2003)
* La Lune dans le caniveau (1983)
* Love Actually (2003)
* Marius (1931)
* Marius et Jeannette (1997)
* Roselyne et les lions (1989)
* Taxi (1998)
* Taxi 2 (2000)
* Taxi 3 (2003)
* The French Connection (1971)
* French Connection II (1975)
* Trois places pour le 26 (1988)
* Un, deux, trois, soleil (1993)

Sights

Among the notable tourist attractions of Marseille are:
* the Old Harbor
* Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde cathedral
* Château d'If, an ancient prison on the island of If, where The Count of Monte Cristo was jailed, in Alexandre Dumas' novel
* Unité d'Habitation de Marseille, by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier
* The calanques

Transportation

Marseille is served by its own metro train system consisting of 2 lines represented by orange and blue. Line 1 (blue) between Catellane and La Rose opened in 1977 and Line 2 (orange) between Sainte-Marguerite/Dromel and Bougainville opened between 1984 and 1987. An extension to Line 1 from Castellane to La Timone was completed in 1992 and a further extension from La Timone up to La Fourragère is under construction.

An extensive bus network serves the city and suburbs of Marseille.

The city is served by an international airport, Aéroport de Marseille Provence, located in Marignane as well as a centenary railway station, Saint-Charles.

Sports

The city's football club is Olympique de Marseille, UEFA Champions League winner in 1993 but tainted by the 1990s match fixing scandal by then-owner Bernard Tapie.

Births and deaths in Marseille

Marseille was the birthplace of:
*Antonin Artaud (1897-1948), author
*Maurice Béjart (born 1927), ballet choreographer
*Jean-Henry Gourgaud, aka. "Dugazon" (1746-1809), actor
*Désirée Clary (1777-1860), wife of King Carl XIV Johann of Sweden, and therefore Queen Desirée or Queen Desideria of Sweden
*Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877), first president of the Third Republic
*Etienne Joseph Louis Garnier-Pages (1801-1841), politician
*Honoré Daumier (1808-1879), caricaturist and painter
*Joseph Autran (1813-1877), poet
*Olivier Émile Ollivier (1825-1913), statesman
*Joseph Pujol, aka. "Le Pétomane" (1857-1945), entertainer
*Paul Mauriat (1925),orchestra leader, composer
*Edmond Rostand (1868-1918), poet and dramatist
*Vincent Scotto (1876-1952), guitarist, songwriter
*Fernandel (1903-1971), actor
*Eliane Browne-Bartroli (1917-1944), French Resistance, Croix de Guerre
*Louis Jourdan (born 1919), actor
*Jean Pierre Rampal (1922-2000), flutist
*André di Fusco (1932-2001), known as André Pascal, song writer, composer
*Jean-Claude Izzo (1945-2000), author
*Éric Cantona (born 1966), legendary Manchester United footballer
*Zinedine Zidane (born 1972), world class footballer
*Romain Barnier (born 1976), freestyle swimmer
*Sébastien Grosjean (born 1978), tennis player

The following personalities died in Marseille:
*French poet Arthur Rimbaud on November 10, 1891.
*King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was assassinated on October 9 1934 in Marseille along with French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou.

Twin Cities

*Hamburg, Germany

Footnotes

External links

* Official website
* Interactive Virtual Tour
* Marseille
* Metro
* Street map of Marseille
* Marseille City Guide

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