Traveling to Marseille was not within our short-term preferences, but the change of plans due to the unexpected strike of air traffic controllers gave us the way to the second city settled in France. It is difficult to organize a visit in one day for a city that requires at least a week, but what is clear is that you choose and not obsessed with wanting to try to cover everything within hours.
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| Puerto old Basilica of Our Lady of the Guard at the bottom |
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| Puerto old |
Places that do not want to miss were the Puerto Viejo, the neighborhood of Panier and Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde . We left the car in a downtown parking the Cours de St Julien and you forget about him for the rest of the day.
Historically, this port metropolis has been involved in not-too-positive stereotypes do not do justice to its history and its cultural wealth almost 3000 years ago. Marseille, founded under the name of Massalia around 600 by Greek sailors from the Ionian city of Phocis, was originally an important trading settlement. The situation was excellent because the bay was a natural harbor protected.
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| Puerto Viejo and San Nicolas Fort |
On its origins there, how could it be otherwise, a beautiful legend. It has the Greeks landed at the time Gyptis the Ligurian princess of the town, was about to choose consort among a group of candidates arranged in a circle. In an unexpected gesture, possibly to avoid bloodshed among his fellow citizens, she gave the cup that marked the election, Protis, the Greek captain of the expedition. From this union came a flourishing trade colony which was called Massilia.
In the nineteenth century, when the docks of the city was the gateway to riches from the colonies of Asia and Africa, there lived the most prosperous times, with buildings that have remained to this day as a sign of those days of glory.
But over the centuries, the history of Marseille is the story of the sea, its Mediterranean and Notre Dame de la Garde, the Virgin who protects you from the top of the city, all sailors who sail in their waters.
Its inhabitants have been moments of great splendor and also great bitterness, which they have been making a strong independent personality and character that distinguishes Marseille.
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| Puerto Viejo |
We walked down the street Canebière leading to the old port, you Vieux Port . Canebière Street is the most famous of the city, immortalized in a song, to be honest, I had not ever heard before. The building Bag (which now houses the Museo de la Marina), magnificent old buildings and emblematic hotels who are now insurance companies and banks and various nineteenth-century palaces give an elegant look to this great avenue. At this time of year is where it mounts the Christmas Market, with several positions holy men, household soap, handicrafts and other products of Provence. Marseille Grand opening of the sea and left the old port and decaying for years, is now integrated into the city forming a large rectangle with buildings on both sides.
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| Stock Exchange Building. | Canebière
Although there are other ports dedicated to freight transport and passenger transport, le Vieux Port is the most picturesque. Pleasure craft and fishing boats share the same water and here comes the ferry that goes to the small island where the Château d'If which is said to have escaped the Count of Monte Cristo .
walked from one end to the Quai du Port with the Old Town Hall (XVII) as the most representative building. The air is chilly but does not prevent us reaching the final where the port buildings, such as the ancient customs or health quartermaster. This building of 1719 provided for doctors and health personnel who controlled until the late nineteenth century, all ships entering the port of Marseilles. This building was used as a model for the rest of the major Mediterranean ports. In the end, they get up two forts, ancient defenses of the city: St. Nicholas left and San Juan right, home of the Knights of the Order of Malta for a few centuries. As noted by an inscription on the facade, stayed here since the twelfth century until the seventeenth century, the Knights of the Sovereign Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta.
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| quartermaster building health. Puerto Viejo |
rid himself way to the Quai de la Fraternité where Canebière merges with the Vieux Port, where every morning go to your appointment fish vendors. Very close by is the well equipped tourist office where we collect a complete map and good advice.
To reach the Basilica of Our Lady of Guard, you can use the bus but decided to take the "Petit train" , a tourist train that part of the Puerto Viejo and travels through the Quai de Rive Neuve , past the Abbey of St. Victor - the oldest in the city - and the corniche John F. Kennedy or coastal road that follows the cliffs with magnificent views over the surrounding islands. La Corniche, a real balcony over the Mediterranean, on the beach begins and ends des Catalans in the Prado, the principal. Here you can see different mansions built in the nineteenth century by wealthy owners who amassed his fortune in business or commercial vessel owners.
Although the course is very good and I imagine that in summer must be a delight when we came to Our Lady of the Guard are completely frozen. This vantage point at 162 meters above sea level, this is the best place to watch Marseille and its surroundings.
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| Basilica of Our Lady of Guard |
city views show a monotonous profile, single color, the color of white limestone, typical of the region. We distinguish Longchamp Palace, the Old Charity and the Cathedral.
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| Château d'If. |
basilica is very nice, especially the inner lining of Byzantine mosaics and a silver image of the Virgin and Child in the altar. It has its origins in 1214, but its present Romanesque-Byzantine because Espérandieu, one of the most popular French architects of the second half of the nineteenth century.
is decorated with several small boats hanging from the ceiling, giving the sailors as well revered thanks to Virgin.
The big picture of the Virgin, is situated on the top of the tower to bless the city and harbor. Is covered with gold leaf and measures 9 meters and 72 centimeters. There is evidence of the existence a chapel dedicated to Our Lady in the thirteenth century, but its strategic importance in making the sixteenth century with the construction of a fort to Francisco I. As a symbol of the city, is by making the Basilica, August 25, 1944 that holds the liberation of Marseille.
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| Interior of the Basilica |
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Looking down, the route becomes shorter and we arrive at the same point. It's time to eat and Marseille have to try the bouillabaisse , a specialty that is because women of the former fishermen, who used the fish that their husbands had failed to sell. The recipe, with respect to their basic ingredients, remains almost the same then. We serve a large pot with broth, mussels and various fish fillets, prepared with tomato, white wine, fennel and saffron. Serve with toasted bread, garlic and grated cheese. Not bad, but we miss some shrimp, some squid ...
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| bouillabaisse soup |
spent much of the afternoon to go Le Panier, the old quarter of town, in the northern hill Puerto Viejo and the one that best reflects the multi-ethnic environment of Marseille.
We leave from the Old Town Hall and turn it over to the plaza Daviel (Square of the Law under the Revolution) which during the Revolution became public trials from the balcony of the Pavilion Daviel in the same town hall. Daviel is the name of an illustrious son Marseille, a famous ophthalmologist who performed the first cataract operation in 1745.
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| Daviel Pavilion. Old Town Hall |
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| Mosaic | Le Panier
From here, take the rise des Accoules to Place des Moulins , as the name indicates, there were different mills working with the air force. In the sixteenth century there were fifteen, but the number was decreasing with the use of water as power and already in the nineteenth century there were only three of them. Still visible are the remains of two of these mills. In the mid-nineteenth century and was demolished some buildings such as the plaza is currently, a typical Provencal square.
Although it shows the great efforts of local authorities in cleaning up and rehabilitation of this particular Panier district, there is much work to do. It is pleasant to stroll through its narrow streets, steep staircases and colorful, but the reality is that the decline is reflected in every corner. Indoor painted everywhere and quite dirty, with a marginal immigrant population and occupied the ramshackle houses. I try to capture with a camera these taste sensations with the past but hope for the future.
continue until the building the Old Charity , listed as Historic Monument on January 29, 1951. Pierre Puget construction began in 1655 to make it a hospice for the homeless, poor and orphans of the city after wars and frequent periods of famine in the second half of XVII century. It is characterized by stark contrast between the exterior facades and interior walls with beautiful three-story arches and galleries. The central chapel of the courtyard is a pure expression of the baroque and represents an architectural feat with its elliptical dome. Currently there are two museums, which in some way pay homage to links with overseas: the Archaeology of the Mediterranean and the Arts dedicated to African, Oceanic and Amerindian.
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| The Old Charity |
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| The Old Charity |
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| The Old Charity |
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| Cathedral |
with Leaving Le Panier a bittersweet, as commonly occurs in all the old districts of any city.
strolled down the Rue de la République, a large shopping street and give a tour of the Christmas market where we can not forget to buy Marseille soap. Despite the base is the same, there are different flavors and colors. I would take them all but I control myself. Buy the jasmine, orange, pink, aloe vera, lavender and mimosa ... for everyone.
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| Christmas Market |
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| Marseille Soap |
Marseille Soap appears in the fifteenth century and is made from vegetable oils, mainly olive oil, and a mixture bones (rich in potassium). In the early eighteenth century in Marseille 30 soap factories were working at full capacity, which exported their product to northern Europe, England and the Ottoman Empire. Today only one survives that continues to produce handmade soap with natural ingredients.
We said goodbye to the corner of the Mediterranean Sea, which has been endorsed by various people that have moved here. First the Greeks and Romans, followed by Catalan, Aragonese, Corsicans and Genoese to make way for new immigrants, a great crucible of mestizaje that characterizes this great city.
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