Who ruled Marseille?

Who ruled here

Borders: Cliopatria, Natural Earth

34 realms held Marseille from 600 BCE to today, as the atlas draws their borders. Lines side by side are realms that held it at once.

Greek City-States≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely600 – 272 BCE · 329 years
Greek Colonies≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely271 – 226 BCE · 46 years
Greek City-States≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely225 – 78 BCE · 148 years
No realm drawn here77 – 64 BCE · 14 years
Greek City-States≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely63 – 49 BCE · 15 years
Roman Republic≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely48 – 32 BCE · 17 years
Roman Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely31 BCE – 394 CE · 425 years
Western Roman Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely395 – 475 CE · 81 years
No realm drawn here476 – 479 CE · 4 years
Visigothic Kingdom≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely480 – 509 CE · 30 years
Ostrogothic Kingdom≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely510 – 539 CE · 30 years
Kingdom of the Franks≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely540 – 660 CE · 121 years
Merovingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely540 – 660 CE · 121 years
Burgundian Kingdom≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely602 – 616 CE · 15 years
Burgundian Kingdom≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely644 – 660 CE · 17 years
Aquitaine≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely661 – 673 CE · 13 years
Kingdom of the Franks≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely674 – 717 CE · 44 years
Merovingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely674 – 717 CE · 44 years
Carolingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely718 – 859 CE · 142 years
Carolingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely718 – 723 CE · 6 years
Kingdom of the Franks≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely724 – 849 CE · 126 years
Middle Franks≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely850 – 859 CE · 10 years
Lower Burgundy≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely860 – 865 CE · 6 years
Carolingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely866 – 879 CE · 14 years
West Franks≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely866 – 879 CE · 14 years
Lower Burgundy≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely880 – 881 CE · 2 years
Carolingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely882 – 886 CE · 5 years
West Franks≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely882 – 886 CE · 5 years
Lower Burgundy≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely887 – 899 CE · 13 years
Carolingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely900 – 910 CE · 11 years
Kingdom of Lower Burgundy≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely900 – 910 CE · 11 years
Lower Burgundy≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely911 – 925 CE · 15 years
Carolingian Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely926 – 935 CE · 10 years
Kingdom of Lower Burgundy≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely926 – 935 CE · 10 years
Kingdom of Arles≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely936 – 1009 CE · 74 years
Holy Roman Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1010 – 1259 · 250 years
Kingdom of France≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1260 – 1791 · 532 years
Capetian House of Anjou≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1260 – 1384 · 125 years
House of Valois-Anjou≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1385 – 1481 · 97 years
French First Republic≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1792 – 1795 · 4 years
French Directory≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1796 – 1799 · 4 years
French Consulate≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1800 – 1804 · 5 years
First French Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1805 – 1814 · 10 years
Bourbon Kingdom of France≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1815 – 1847 · 33 years
French Second Republic≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1848 – 1852 · 5 years
Second French Empire≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1853 – 1870 · 18 years
French Third Republic≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1871 – 1939 · 69 years
Vichy France≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1940 – 1942 · 3 years
Nazi Germany≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1943 – 1944 · 2 years
French Fourth Republic≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1945 – 1957 · 13 years
French Fifth Republic≈ Its borders pass close by, not through here: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely1958 – 2024 · 67 years
FranceToday

≈ its borders pass close by: coasts and rivers are drawn coarsely.

Marseille (Occitan: Marselha) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in Provence, it marks the eastern end of the Côte Bleue on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille is the second-most populous city proper in France, after Paris, with 886,040 people in 2023 over a municipal territory of 241 km2 (93 sq mi). Together with its suburbs and exurbs, the Marseille metropolitan area, which extends over 3,972 km2 (1,534 sq mi), had a population of 1,917,728 as of 2023. The cities of Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and 90 suburban municipalities have formed since 2016 the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, an indirectly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of wider metropolitan issues, with a population of 1,939,077 as of 2023. The southeast of Marseille is in Calanques National Park, making Marseille the only large city in France to have a national park within city limits.

Founded c. 600 BC by Greek settlers, Marseille is the oldest city in France, as well as one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements. It was known to the ancient Greeks as Massalia and to Romans as Massilia. Marseille has been a trading port since ancient times. It experienced a commercial boom during the colonial period and especially in the 19th century, becoming a prosperous industrial and trading city. The Old Port still lies at the heart of the city, where the manufacture of Marseille soap began some six centuries ago. Overlooking the port is the Notre-Dame de la Garde – known as "la Bonne Mère" by the people of Marseille – a Romano-Byzantine church and a symbol of the city. Today, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) and the maritime economy play a major role in regional and national economic activity. Marseille remains the first French port, the second Mediterranean port and the fifth European port. Since its origins, Marseille's openness to the Mediterranean Sea has made it a cosmopolitan city marked by cultural and economic exchanges with Southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. In Europe, the city has the third largest Jewish community after London and Paris.

In the 1990s, the Euroméditerranée project for economic development and urban renewal was launched. New infrastructure projects and renovations were carried out in the 2000s and 2010s: the tramway, the renovation of the Hôtel-Dieu into a luxury hotel, the expansion of the Stade Vélodrome, the CMA CGM Tower, as well as other quayside museums such as the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MuCEM). As a result, Marseille now has the most museums in France after Paris. The city was named European Capital of Culture in 2013 and European Capital of Sport in 2017. Home of Olympique de Marseille, one of the most successful and widely supported football clubs in France, Marseille has hosted matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016. It is home to several higher education institutions in the region, including the University of Aix-Marseille. A resident of Marseille is a Marseillais.

Name

The name Marseille most likely comes from the name Massalia given to the ancient city initially founded by Greeks. Variations of the name include:

In English Marseille, or formerly Marseilles, both pronounced mar-SAY;
In French Marseille, which is pronounced [maʁsɛj] ⓘ in Standard French and [maχˈsɛjə] ⓘ in local French;
In Occitan (Provençal) Marselha (pronounced [maʀˈsejɔ, maʀˈsijɔ]) according to the Classical orthographic norm, which may be written Marsiho according to the Mistralian norm, from the Medieval Occitan Marselha or Masselha;
In Latin Massilia, from the Greek Μασσαλία (Massalía), which is the oldest attestation of the name, since the city was founded by Greek settlers around 600 BC, and remained for a long time a Greek-speaking place even after it fell under Roman rule.

Geography

Marseille is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris. 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 fjord-like inlets. Farther east still are the Sainte-Baume (a 1,147 m (3,763 ft) mountain ridge rising from a forest of deciduous trees), the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m (3,317 ft) Montagne Sainte-Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the former artists' colony of l'Estaque; farther west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion and the Camargue region in the Rhône delta. The Marseille Provence Airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre.

The city's main thoroughfare (the wide boulevard called the Canebière) stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Farther out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château d'If, made famous by the Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo. The main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at Rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse (one of the city's main shopping malls). The centre of Marseille has several pedestrianised zones, most notably Rue St Ferréol, Cours Julien near the Music Conservatory, the Cours Honoré-d'Estienne-d'Orves off the Old Port and the area around the Hôtel de Ville. In 2024, the Cours Julien was named one of the 38 coolest neighborhoods in the world by Time Out. 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 and 8th arrondissements, dominated by the basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. Marseille's main railway station—Marseille-Saint-Charles station—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement; it is linked by the Boulevard d'Athènes to the Canebière.

Climate

The city has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with cool-mild winters with moderate rainfall, because of the wet westerly winds, and hot, mostly dry summers. December, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C (54 °F) during the day and 4 °C (39 °F) at night. July and August are the hottest months, averaging temperatures of around 28–30 °C (82–86 °F) during the day and 19 °C (66 °F) at night in the Marignane airport [35 km (22 mi) from Marseille] but in the city near the sea the average high temperature is 27 °C (81 °F) in July.

Marseille receives the most sunlight of any French city, 2,897.6 hours per year on average, while the average sunshine in the country is around 1,950 hours. It is also the driest major city with only 532.3 mm (21 in) of precipitation annually, mainly due to the mistral, a cold, dry wind originating in the Rhône Valley that occurs mostly in winter and spring and which generally brings clear skies and sunny weather to the region. Less frequent is the sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara. Snowfalls are infrequent; over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall.

The hottest temperature was 40.6 °C (105.1 °F) on 26 July 1983 during a great heat wave, the lowest temperature was −16.8 °C (1.8 °F) on 13 February 1929 during a strong cold wave.

History

Marseille was founded as the Greek colony of Massalia c. 600 BC, and was populated by Greek settlers from Phocaea (modern Foça, Turkey). It became the preeminent Greek polis in the Hellenized region of southern Gaul. The city-state sided with the Roman Republic against Carthage during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), retaining its independence and commercial empire throughout the western Mediterranean even as Rome expanded its empire into Western Europe and North Africa. However, the city lost its independence following the Roman Siege of Massilia in 49 BC, during Caesar's Civil War, in which Massalia sided with the exiled faction at war with Julius Caesar. Afterward, the Gallo-Roman culture was initiated.

The city maintained its position as a premier maritime trading hub even after its capture by the Visigoths in the fifth century AD, although the city went into decline following the sack of AD 739 by the forces of Charles Martel against the Umayyad Caliphate. It became part of the County of Provence during the tenth century, although its renewed prosperity was curtailed by the Black Death of the 14th century and a sack of the city by the Crown of Aragon in 1423. The city's fortunes rebounded with the ambitious building projects of René of Anjou, Count of Provence, who strengthened the city's fortifications during the mid-15th century. During the 16th century, the city hosted a naval fleet with the combined forces of the Franco-Ottoman alliance, which threatened the ports and navies of the Genoese Republic.

Marseille lost a significant portion of its population during the Great Plague of Marseille in 1720, but the population had recovered by mid-century. In 1792, the city became a focal point of the French Revolution, and though France's national anthem was born in Strasbourg, it was first sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille, hence the name the crowd gave it: La Marseillaise. The Industrial Revolution and establishment of the second French colonial empire during the 19th century allowed for the further expansion of the city, although it was occupied by the German Wehrmacht in November 1942 and subsequently heavily damaged during World War II. The city has since become a major center for immigrant communities from former French colonies in Africa, such as French Algeria.

Economy

Marseille is a major hub of trade and industry in France, supported by a well-developed transportation network that includes roads, a seaport, and an airport. Marseille Provence Airport is the fourth largest in France. In May 2005, the French financial magazine L'Expansion named Marseille the most dynamic of France's large cities, citing figures showing that 7,200 companies had been created in the city since 2000. As of 2019, the Marseille metropolitan area had a GDP amounting to US$81.4 billion, or US$43,430 per capita (purchasing power parity).

Port

Historically, the economy of Marseille was dominated by its role as a port of the French Empire, linking the North African colonies of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia with Metropolitan France. The Old Port was replaced as the main port for trade by the Port de la Joliette (now part of Marseille-Fos Port) during the Second Empire and now contains restaurants, offices, bars and hotels and functions mostly as a private marina. The majority of the port and docks, which experienced decline in the 1970s after the oil crisis, have been recently redeveloped with funds from the European Union. Fishing remains important in Marseille and the food economy of Marseille is fed by the local catch; a daily fish market is still held on the Quai des Belges of the Old Port.

The economy of Marseille and its region is still linked to its commercial port, the first French port and the fifth European port by cargo tonnage, which lies north of the Old Port and eastern in Fos-sur-Mer. Some 45,000 jobs are linked to the port activities and it represents €4 billion of added value to the regional economy. 100 million tons of freight pass annually through the port, 60% of which is petroleum, making it number one in France and the Mediterranean and number three in Europe. However, in the early 2000s, the growth in container traffic was being stifled by the constant strikes and social upheaval. The port is among the 20th firsts in Europe for container traffic with 1,062,408 TEU and new infrastructure has already raised the capacity to 2 million TEU. Marseille is connected with the Rhône via a canal and thus has access to the extensive waterway network of France. Petroleum is shipped northward to the Paris basin by pipeline. The city also serves as France's leading centre of oil refining.

Companies, services and high technologies

In recent years, the city has also experienced a large growth in service sector employment and a switch from light manufacturing to a cultural, high-tech economy. The Marseille region is home to thousands of companies, 90% of which are small and medium enterprises with less than 500 employees. Among the most famous are CMA CGM, container-shipping giant; Compagnie maritime d'expertises (Comex), a leader in sub-sea engineering and hydraulic systems; Airbus Helicopters, an Airbus division; Azur Promotel, an active real estate development company; La Provence, the local daily newspaper; RTM, Marseille's public transport company; and Société Nationale Maritime Corse Méditerranée (SNCM), a major provider of passenger, vehicle and freight transportation in the Western Mediterranean. The Euroméditerranée urban development project has significantly expanded the city's office stock, making Marseille home to one of the largest business districts in France.

Marseille is the home of three main technopoles: Château-Gombert (technological innovations), Luminy (biotechnology) and La Belle de Mai (17,000 sq.m. of offices dedicated to multimedia activities).

Tourism and attractions

The port is also an important arrival base for millions of people each year, with 2.4 million including 890,100 from cruise ships. With its beaches, history, architecture and culture (24 museums and 42 theatres), Marseille is one of the most visited cities in France, with 4.1 million visitors in 2012.

They take place in three main sites, the Palais du Pharo, Palais des Congrès et des Expositions (Parc Chanot) and World Trade Center. In 2012 Marseille hosted the World Water Forum. Several urban projects have been developed to make Marseille attractive. Thus new parks, museums, public spaces and real estate projects aim to improve the city's quality of life (Parc du 26e Centenaire, Old Port of Marseille, numerous places in Euroméditerranée) to attract firms and people. Marseille municipality acts to develop Marseille as a regional nexus for entertainment in the south of France with high concentration of museums, cinemas, theatres, clubs, bars, restaurants, fashion shops, hotels, and art galleries.

Employment

The unemployment rate in Marseille fell from 20% in 1995 to 14% in 2004. In 2022, the unemployment rate in Marseille was 13.1%, according to data from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). However, Marseille's unemployment rate remains higher than the national average. In some parts of Marseille, youth unemployment is reported to be as high as 40%.

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Text from the Wikipedia article “Marseille”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Marseille is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in Provence, it marks the eastern end of the Côte Bleue on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille is the second-most populous city proper in France, after Paris, with 886,040 people in 2023 over a municipal territory of 241 km2 (93 sq mi). Together with its suburbs and exurbs, the Marseille metropolitan area, which extends over 3,972 km2 (1,534 sq mi), had a population of 1,917,728 as of 2023. The cities of Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and 90 suburban municipalities have formed since 2016 the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, an indirectly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of wider metropolitan issues, with a population of 1,939,077 as of 2023. The southeast of Marseille is in Calanques National Park, making Marseille the only large city in France to have a national park within city limits.

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Text from the Wikipedia article “Marseille”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Marseille

Who ruled here

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