Aix-en-Provence
Encyclopedia
Aix, or Aix-en-Provence (ɛksɑ̃pʀovɑ̃s, Provençal Occitan
: Ais de Provença in classical norm, or Ais de Prouvènço in Mistralian norm, both pronounced ˈajs de pʀuˈvɛⁿsɔ) to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune
in southern France
, some 30 km (18.6 mi) north of Marseille
. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône
, of which it is a subprefecture
. The population of Aix is approximately 143,000. Its inhabitants are called Aixois or, less commonly, Aquisextains.
Aix (Aquae Sextiae) was founded in 123 BC by the Roman consul
Sextius Calvinus, who gave his name to its springs, following the destruction of the nearby Gallic
oppidum
at Entremont
. In 102 BC its neighbourhood was the scene of the Battle of Aquae Sextiae
when Romans under Gaius Marius
defeated the Cimbri
and Teutones
, with mass suicides among the captured women, which passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism.
In the 4th century AD it became the metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda. It was occupied by the Visigoths in 477. In the succeeding century, the town was repeatedly plundered by the Franks
and Lombards
, and was occupied by the Saracens in 731 and by Charles Martel
in 737. Aix, which during the Middle Ages
was the capital of Provence
, did not reach its zenith until after the 12th century, when, under the houses of Aragon
and Anjou
, it became an artistic centre and seat of learning.
Aix passed to the crown of France with the rest of Provence in 1487, and in 1501 Louis XII
established there the parliament of Provence, which existed until 1789. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was the seat of the Intendance of Provence.
Current archeological excavations in the Ville des Tours, a medieval suburb
of Aix, have unearthed the remains of a roman
amphitheatre
.
, about a mile from the right bank of the river. The city slopes gently from north to south and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire
can easily be seen to the east. Aix's position in the south of France gives it a warm climate. It has an average January temperature of 5 °C (41 °F) and a July average of 22 °C (72 °F). It has an average of 300 days of sunshine and only 91 days of rain. While it is partially protected from the Mistral
, Aix does occasionally suffer from the cold gusty conditions it brings.
Unlike most of France which has an oceanic climate
, Aix-en-Provence has a Mediterranean climate
.
The Cours Mirabeau
is a wide thoroughfare, planted with double rows of plane-trees
, bordered by fine houses and decorated by fountains. It follows the line of the old city wall and divides the town into two sections. The new town extends to the south and west; the old town, with its wide but irregular streets and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, lies to the north. Along this avenue, which is lined on one side with banks and on the other with cafés, is the Deux Garçons, the most famous brasserie
in Aix. Built in 1792, it has been frequented by the likes of Paul Cézanne
, Émile Zola
and Ernest Hemingway
.
The Cathedral of the Holy Saviour (Cathédrale Saint Sauveur) is situated to the north in the medieval part of Aix. Built on the site of a former Roman forum
and an adjacent basilica, it contains a mixture of all styles from the 5th to the 17th century, including a richly decorated portal in the Gothic style
with doors elaborately carved in walnut
. The interior contains 16th century tapestries, a 15th century triptych
, depicting King René
and his wife on the side panels, as well as a Merovingian baptistery
, its Renaissance
dome supported by original Roman columns. The archbishop's palace (Palais de l'Archêveché) and a Romanesque
cloister
adjoin the cathedral on its south side. The Archbishopric of Aix is now shared with Arles
.
Among its other public institutions, Aix also has the second most important Appeal Court (Palais de Justice) outside of Paris, located near the site of the former Palace of the Counts (Palais des Comtes) of Provence
.
The Hôtel de Ville, a building in the classical style of the middle of the 17th century, looks onto a picturesque square (place de l'Hôtel de Ville). It contains some fine woodwork and tapestries. At its side rises a handsome clock-tower erected in 1510. Also on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville is the former Corn Exchange
(1759–1761) (Halle de Grains). This ornately decorated 18th century building was designed by the Vallon brothers. Nearby are the remarkable thermal springs
, containing lime and carbonic acid
, that first drew the Romans
to Aix and gave it the name Aquae Sextiae. A spa
was built in 1705 near the remains of the ancient Roman
baths
of Sextius.
South of the Cours Mirabeau is the Quartier Mazarin. This residential district was constructed for the gentry of Aix by the brother of Cardinal Mazarin in the last half of the 17th century and contains several notable hôtels particuliers
. The thirteenth century church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte contains valuable pictures and a recently restored organ. Next to it is the Musée Granet, devoted to European painting and sculpture.
Aix is often referred to as the city of a thousand fountains. Among the most notable are the 17th century Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins (Fountain of the Four Dolphins) in the Quartier Mazarin, designed by Jean-Claude Rambot, and three of the fountains down the central Cours Mirabeau: At the top, a 19th century fountain depicts the "good king" René
holding the Muscat grapes
that he introduced to Provence
in the 15th century; half-way down is a natural hot water fountain (34 °C), covered in moss, dating back to the Romans; and at the bottom at la Rotonde, the hub of modern Aix, stands a monumental fountain from 1860 beneath three giant statues representing art, justice and agriculture. In the older part of Aix, there are also fountains of note in the Place d'Albertas and the Place des Trois-Ormeaux.
Aix has long been a university town: Louis II of Anjou granted a royal charter
for a university in 1409. Today Aix remains an important educational centre, with many teaching and research institutes:
Aix also has several training collèges, lycées, and a college of art and design. It has also become a centre for many international study programmes. Several lycées offer CPGE
, Salzburg
and Glyndebourne
. The current director is Bernard Foccroulle, director of la Monnaie
in Brussels. The festival takes place in late June and July each year. The main venues in Aix itself are the outdoor Théâtre de l'Archévêché in the former garden of the archbishop's palace, the recently restored 18th century Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, and the newly built Grand Théâtre de Provence; operas are also staged in the outdoor Théâtre du Grand Saint-Jean outside Aix. Linked to the festival is the Académie européenne de musique, a summer school for young musicians with master classes by celebrated artists. Over the four year period from 2006 until 2009, Sir Simon Rattle's version of Wagner's Ring Cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic is being premiered at the Aix festival.
.' There is a week of classical, jazz and popular concerts held in different street venues and courtyards in the city. Some of these events are held in the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud
, named in honour of the French composer, a native of Aix.
has been located in Aix since 1996. In 2007 it took up residence in the "Pavillon Noir", a centre for dance performance, designed in 1999 by the architect Rudy Ricciotti. The centre is one of nineteen of its kind in France, designated Centre chorégraphique national.
Aix has several museums and galleries:
Prior to 1989 Aix had several libraries, for example in the Parc Jourdan and the Town Hall. In 1989, many of these were moved to the Méjanes, an old match factory.
In 1993, the "Cité du Livre" was opened around the library. This has media spaces for dance, cinema and music, and a training facility for librarians. Adjacent to the Cité du Livre are the Grand Théâtre de Provence and the Pavillon Noir (see above).
To the east of Aix rises the Montagne Sainte-Victoire
(1011 m), one of the landmarks of the Pays d'Aix. It is accessible from the centre of Aix by road or on foot, taking the wooded footpath of Escrachou Pevou to the plateau
of Bibemus. It dramatically overshadows the small dam built by Emile Zola
's father and was a favourite subject and haunt of Paul Cézanne
throughout his lifetime. In the village of le Tholonet
on the precipitous southern side of Mont Sainte-Victoire, there is a windmill
that he used and beyond that a mountain hut, the refuge Cézanne, where he liked to paint.
To the north, the mountain slopes gently down through woodland to the village of Vauvenargues
. The Château of Vauvenargues
overlooking the village was formerly occupied the by the Counts of Provence (including René of Anjou) and the Archbishops of Aix before it became the family home of the marquis de Vauvenargues
. It was acquired by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso
in 1958, who was resident there from 1959 until 1962, when he moved to Mougins
. He and his wife wife Jacqueline are buried in its grounds,
which are not usually open to the public. From 2009 onwards, the chateau, which now belongs to Jacqueline's daughter Catherine Hutin, has been open to the public from June to September.
Mont Sainte-Victoire has a complex network of paths, leading to the priory and Croix de Provence at the summit, to the large man-made reservoir of Bimont and to the roman
viaduct
above le Tholonet.
Industries formerly included flour-milling, the manufacture of confectionery, iron-ware, hats, matches and the extraction of olive oil
.
Current economic activities include:
The airline Twin Jet
has its head office in Aix-en-Provence.
A set of ancient roads radiate out from Aix to the surrounding countryside, the Pays d'Aix. There are also a large number of modern autoroute
s connecting Aix to nearby towns. There are autoroutes northwards to Avignon and to the Luberon
; southwards to Marseille
; and eastwards to Aubagne
and the Mediterranean coast of Provence; and to Nice
and other towns on the French Riviera
. Aix and Marseille are equidistant from the international airport of Marseille-Provence
(MRS) at Marignane
on the Etang de Berre
. There is another airport at
Les Milles, which is mostly used by general aviation. There is a frequent bus shuttle service from the main bus station in Aix which also serves the nearby TGV station
at l'Arbois, in the middle of the countryside about 10 miles (16 km) from Aix.
At Aix, the line from Paris branches to Marseille and Nice; it takes about 3 hours to get from Paris to Aix by TGV. Aix also has a railway station near the centre, Gare d'Aix-en-Provence
, with connections to Marseille, Pertuis
and Briançon
in the French Alps
. A frequent and rapid shuttle bus service for commuters operates between the bus station in Aix and Marseille. There are many other long distance and local buses from the bus station.
In the town itself, there is an inexpensive municipal bus service, including a dial-a-bus service ("proxibus"), a park-and-ride service and tiny electrified buses for those with mobility problems. Those are six seater vehicles that circulate at a speed of 10 mph (4.47 m/s). The central old town of Aix is for the most part pedestrianised. There are large underground and overground parking structures placed at regular intervals on the "boulevard exterieur", the predominantly one-way
ring road
that encircles the old town. Access to the old town is by a series of often narrow one-way streets that can be confusing to navigate for the uninitiated.
As in many other French cities, a short-term bicycle hire scheme nicknamed V'Hello, free for trips of less than half an hour, has recently been put in place by the town council: and has been popular with tourists. As well as overland routes, two "rivers" flow through Aix, the Arc and the Torse, but neither of which can remotely be described as navigable.
Aix hosted the ninth International Congress of Modern Architecture
in 1953.
Aix is the home town of the rugby union
team Pays d'Aix RC
. It played host to the All Blacks
during the early stages of the 2007 Rugby World Cup
.
Ysabel
, the tenth novel of the best-selling Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay
, was set and written in Aix.
with the following seven cities (in alphabetical order):
Ashkelon
, Israel since 1995 Bath, Somerset, England since 1977 Carthage
, Tunisia since 1993 Coimbra
, Portugal since 1982 Granada
, Andalusia, Spain since 1978 Perugia
, Umbria, Italy since 1970 Tübingen
, Baden-Württemberg, Germany since 1960
In addition, Aix has international cooperations, partnerships and exchanges with the following cities from all over the world: Oujda
, Morocco since 1997 Baalbek
, Lebanon Bamako
, Mali Baton Rouge
, Louisiana, United States Coral Gables
, Florida, United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States since 1998 Chaoyang, Liaoning, China Foshan
, Guangdong, China Meguro
, Tokyo, Japan Kumamoto
, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Aix-en-Provence was the birthplace of:
Provençal language
Provençal is a dialect of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence."Provençal" is also the...
: Ais de Provença in classical norm, or Ais de Prouvènço in Mistralian norm, both pronounced ˈajs de pʀuˈvɛⁿsɔ) to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, some 30 km (18.6 mi) north of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
, of which it is a subprefecture
Subprefecture
Subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province.-Albania:There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is subdivided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures.-Brazil:...
. The population of Aix is approximately 143,000. Its inhabitants are called Aixois or, less commonly, Aquisextains.
History
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
Sextius Calvinus, who gave his name to its springs, following the destruction of the nearby Gallic
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
oppidum
Oppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
at Entremont
Entremont (oppidum)
Entremont is a 3.5 hectare archaeological site three kilometres from Aix-en-Provence at the extreme south of the Puyricard plateau. In antiquity, the oppidum at Entremont was the capital of the Celtic-Ligurian confederation. It was settled between 180 and 170 B.C., somewhat later than the...
. In 102 BC its neighbourhood was the scene of the Battle of Aquae Sextiae
Battle of Aquae Sextiae
The Battle of Aquae Sextiae took place in 102 BC. After a string of Roman defeats , the Romans under Gaius Marius finally defeated the Teutones and Ambrones.-The battle:...
when Romans under Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
defeated the Cimbri
Cimbri
The Cimbri were a tribe from Northern Europe, who, together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin...
and Teutones
Teutons
The Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
, with mass suicides among the captured women, which passed into Roman legends of Germanic heroism.
In the 4th century AD it became the metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda. It was occupied by the Visigoths in 477. In the succeeding century, the town was repeatedly plundered by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
and Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
, and was occupied by the Saracens in 731 and by Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
in 737. Aix, which during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
was the capital of Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, did not reach its zenith until after the 12th century, when, under the houses of Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
and Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
, it became an artistic centre and seat of learning.
Aix passed to the crown of France with the rest of Provence in 1487, and in 1501 Louis XII
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
established there the parliament of Provence, which existed until 1789. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was the seat of the Intendance of Provence.
Current archeological excavations in the Ville des Tours, a medieval suburb
Faubourg
Faubourg is an ancient French term approximating "suburb" . The earliest form is Forsbourg, derived from Latin foris, 'out of', and Vulgar Latin burgum, 'town' or 'fortress'...
of Aix, have unearthed the remains of a roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
.
Geography and climate
Aix-en-Provence is situated in a plain overlooking the ArcArc (Provence)
The Arc is an 83 km long river in the south of France. It arises at an altitude of 470 m, close to the village of Pourcieux. It then passes through Aix-en-Provence before flowing into the Étang de Berre, a lake to the west of Marseille....
, about a mile from the right bank of the river. The city slopes gently from north to south and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Montagne Sainte-Victoire — in Provençal Occitan: Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and Ventùri / Santo Ventùri according to Mistralian orthography — is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France which extends over 18 kilometres between the départements of...
can easily be seen to the east. Aix's position in the south of France gives it a warm climate. It has an average January temperature of 5 °C (41 °F) and a July average of 22 °C (72 °F). It has an average of 300 days of sunshine and only 91 days of rain. While it is partially protected from the Mistral
Mistral (wind)
The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France, coming from the north or northwest, which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance Rivers to the coast of the Mediterranean around the Camargue region. It affects the northeast of the plain...
, Aix does occasionally suffer from the cold gusty conditions it brings.
Unlike most of France which has an oceanic climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
, Aix-en-Provence has a Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
.
Population
Main sights
Cours Mirabeau
The Cours Mirabeau is a wide thoroughfare in Aix-en-Provence, France.-Overview:440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in the town...
is a wide thoroughfare, planted with double rows of plane-trees
Platanus
Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
, bordered by fine houses and decorated by fountains. It follows the line of the old city wall and divides the town into two sections. The new town extends to the south and west; the old town, with its wide but irregular streets and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, lies to the north. Along this avenue, which is lined on one side with banks and on the other with cafés, is the Deux Garçons, the most famous brasserie
Brasserie
In France and the Francophone world, a brasserie is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed, upscale setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word 'brasserie' is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the brewing business"...
in Aix. Built in 1792, it has been frequented by the likes of Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
, Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
and Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
The Cathedral of the Holy Saviour (Cathédrale Saint Sauveur) is situated to the north in the medieval part of Aix. Built on the site of a former Roman forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
and an adjacent basilica, it contains a mixture of all styles from the 5th to the 17th century, including a richly decorated portal in the Gothic style
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
with doors elaborately carved in walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
. The interior contains 16th century tapestries, a 15th century triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
, depicting King René
René I of Naples
René of Anjou , also known as René I of Naples and Good King René , was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence , Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar , Duke of Lorraine , King of Naples , titular King of Jerusalem...
and his wife on the side panels, as well as a Merovingian baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
, its Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
dome supported by original Roman columns. The archbishop's palace (Palais de l'Archêveché) and a Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
adjoin the cathedral on its south side. The Archbishopric of Aix is now shared with Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
.
Among its other public institutions, Aix also has the second most important Appeal Court (Palais de Justice) outside of Paris, located near the site of the former Palace of the Counts (Palais des Comtes) of Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
.
The Hôtel de Ville, a building in the classical style of the middle of the 17th century, looks onto a picturesque square (place de l'Hôtel de Ville). It contains some fine woodwork and tapestries. At its side rises a handsome clock-tower erected in 1510. Also on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville is the former Corn Exchange
Corn exchange
A corn exchange or grain exchange was a building where farmers and merchants traded cereal grains. Such trade was common in towns and cities across Great Britain and Ireland until the 19th century, but as the trade became centralised in the 20th century many such buildings were used for other...
(1759–1761) (Halle de Grains). This ornately decorated 18th century building was designed by the Vallon brothers. Nearby are the remarkable thermal springs
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
, containing lime and carbonic acid
Carbonic acid
Carbonic acid is the inorganic compound with the formula H2CO3 . It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, because such solutions contain small amounts of H2CO3. Carbonic acid forms two kinds of salts, the carbonates and the bicarbonates...
, that first drew the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
to Aix and gave it the name Aquae Sextiae. A spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
was built in 1705 near the remains of the ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
baths
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
of Sextius.
South of the Cours Mirabeau is the Quartier Mazarin. This residential district was constructed for the gentry of Aix by the brother of Cardinal Mazarin in the last half of the 17th century and contains several notable hôtels particuliers
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
. The thirteenth century church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte contains valuable pictures and a recently restored organ. Next to it is the Musée Granet, devoted to European painting and sculpture.
Aix is often referred to as the city of a thousand fountains. Among the most notable are the 17th century Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins (Fountain of the Four Dolphins) in the Quartier Mazarin, designed by Jean-Claude Rambot, and three of the fountains down the central Cours Mirabeau: At the top, a 19th century fountain depicts the "good king" René
René I of Naples
René of Anjou , also known as René I of Naples and Good King René , was Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence , Count of Piedmont, Duke of Bar , Duke of Lorraine , King of Naples , titular King of Jerusalem...
holding the Muscat grapes
Muscat (grape and wine)
The Muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world...
that he introduced to Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
in the 15th century; half-way down is a natural hot water fountain (34 °C), covered in moss, dating back to the Romans; and at the bottom at la Rotonde, the hub of modern Aix, stands a monumental fountain from 1860 beneath three giant statues representing art, justice and agriculture. In the older part of Aix, there are also fountains of note in the Place d'Albertas and the Place des Trois-Ormeaux.
Education
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
for a university in 1409. Today Aix remains an important educational centre, with many teaching and research institutes:
- Université de Provence Aix-Marseille I, specialising in the humanities in Aix.
- Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille II, specialising in economics in Aix.
- Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III, specialising principally in law, economics, political science and administration in Aix.
- Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-ProvenceInstitut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-ProvenceThe Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence , also known as the Institut d'études politiques or "Sciences Po Aix", is a grande école in political sciences, established in 1956 in the premises of the former Faculty of Law of the Université de Provence, France...
(IEP), an Institute of Political Studies - Institut de l'Aménagement Régional, an institute in the Université Paul Cézanne for town and country planning.
- École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et MétiersÉcole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et MétiersArts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....
- Institut d'Etudes Françaises pour Etudiants Etrangers (IEFEE), a language schoolLanguage schoolA language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, but not limited to, communicative competence in a foreign language...
in the Université Paul Cézanne for foreign studentsInternational studentAccording to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country in accordance to their own national...
of all levels of French proficiency - Lycée George Duby, an international secondary in LuynesLuynes, Bouches-du-RhôneLuynes is a village of the Bouches-du-Rhône département in southern France. It is located 4 km south of Aix-en-Provence at the intersection of the D7 and N8 roads. The village is perhaps best known for its prison and for its three international schools. The Nécropole Nationale de Luynes is also...
, on the outskirts of Aix, taking a large number of English-speaking students. - The American University Center of Provence, an American study abroad program
- Institute For American Universities, a small program for American students studying abroad
- Vanderbilt in France
- Princeton French study program
- International Bilingual School of Provence, a private school in LuynesLuynes, Bouches-du-RhôneLuynes is a village of the Bouches-du-Rhône département in southern France. It is located 4 km south of Aix-en-Provence at the intersection of the D7 and N8 roads. The village is perhaps best known for its prison and for its three international schools. The Nécropole Nationale de Luynes is also...
, on the outskirts of Aix - Val Saint André, a private school in the east of Aix that teaches English IGCSE and A-level examinations as well as the French Baccalaureate.
- EPIM International School of the Mediterranean, an international nursery, kindergarten and primary school that teaches in English and French just south of Aix
Aix also has several training collèges, lycées, and a college of art and design. It has also become a centre for many international study programmes. Several lycées offer CPGE
Culture
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
An important opera festival, the 'Festival international d'Art Lyrique' founded in 1948 which now ranks with those in BayreuthBayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
, Salzburg
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
and Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
. The current director is Bernard Foccroulle, director of la Monnaie
La Monnaie
Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie , or the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg is a theatre in Brussels, Belgium....
in Brussels. The festival takes place in late June and July each year. The main venues in Aix itself are the outdoor Théâtre de l'Archévêché in the former garden of the archbishop's palace, the recently restored 18th century Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, and the newly built Grand Théâtre de Provence; operas are also staged in the outdoor Théâtre du Grand Saint-Jean outside Aix. Linked to the festival is the Académie européenne de musique, a summer school for young musicians with master classes by celebrated artists. Over the four year period from 2006 until 2009, Sir Simon Rattle's version of Wagner's Ring Cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic is being premiered at the Aix festival.
Musique dans la Rue
This takes place each year in June to coincide with the national 'Fête de la MusiqueFête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.-History:The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the...
.' There is a week of classical, jazz and popular concerts held in different street venues and courtyards in the city. Some of these events are held in the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
, named in honour of the French composer, a native of Aix.
Dance
The dance company Ballet Preljocaj of the French dancer and choreographer Angelin PreljocajAngelin Preljocaj
Angelin Preljoçaj is a French dancer of Albanian origin and choreographer of contemporary dance.-Biography:His choreographic work is steeped in his writing of the history of classical ballet, but is resolutely contemporary...
has been located in Aix since 1996. In 2007 it took up residence in the "Pavillon Noir", a centre for dance performance, designed in 1999 by the architect Rudy Ricciotti. The centre is one of nineteen of its kind in France, designated Centre chorégraphique national.
Museums and Libraries
- Le Musée du Vieil Aix (Museum of Old Aix), housed in two period "hôtels particuliers"Hôtel particulierIn French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
and devoted to the history and provencal heritage of Aix. - Le Muséum d’Histoire NaturelleMuseum d’Histoire Naturelle Aix en ProvenceThe Museum d’Histoire Naturelle Aix en Provence is a natural history museum in Aix en Provence, France.The museum contains the collections of:*Louis Charles Joseph Gaston de Saporta*Casimir de Barrigue,Comte de Montvallon ....
(Natural History Museum). - Le Musée de Tapisseries (Tapestry Museum), housed in the Archbishop's Palace and with a collection of tapestries and furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Le Musée Paul Arbaud (Faïence/Pottery).
- Le Musée Granet, a museum devoted to painting, sculpture and the archeology of Aix. It recently underwent significant restoration and reorganization, prior to the international exhibition in 2006 marking the centenary of CézannePaul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
's death. Due to lack of space, the large archeological collection, including many recent discoveries, will be displayed in a new museum, still in the planning stages. The museum contains major paintings by Jean-Dominique Ingres (among which the monumental "Jupiter and ThetisJupiter and Thetis (Ingres)Jupiter and Thetis is a 1811 painting by the French neoclassical painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, in the Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence, France. Painted when the artist was yet 31, the work severely and pointedly contrasts the grandeur and might of a cloud-born Olympian male deity against that...
"), an authentic self-portrait by Rembrandt and works by Anthony van DyckAnthony van DyckSir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
, Paul CézannePaul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
, Alberto GiacomettiAlberto GiacomettiAlberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...
and Nicolas de StaëlNicolas de StaëlNicolas de Staël was a painter known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting...
. In June 2011, the first part of the collection of the Fondation Jean et Suzanne Planque opened at the Musée Granet, containing over 180 artworks. This legacy of the Swiss painter, dealer and art collector Jean Planque, a personal friend of Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, has been donated to the city for an initial period of 15 years. The collection contains over 300 works of art, including paintings and drawings by Degas, RenoirRenoir-People with the surname Renoir :* Pierre-Auguste Renoir , French painter* Pierre Renoir , French actor and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir* Jean Renoir , French film director and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
. Gaugin, Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pierre BonnardPierre BonnardPierre Bonnard was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a founding member of Les Nabis.-Biography:...
, Paul KleePaul KleePaul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
, Fernand LégerFernand LégerJoseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Giacometti and Dubuffet. The full collection will be housed in a specially constructed annex in the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, situated nearby: the expected opening is in 2013.
- Le Pavillon de Vendôme, a 17th century mansion housing permanent and touring art exhibitions.
- The Vasarely Foundation a gallery dedicated to the works of the Hungarian-born French abstract painterAbstract artAbstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
Victor VasarelyVictor VasarelyVictor Vasarely was a Hungarian French artist whose work is generally seen aligned with Op-art.His work entitled Zebra, created by Vasarely in the 1930s, is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of Op-art...
. - L'atelier Cézanne, a museum on the northern outskirts of Aix, constructed around the studio of Paul Cézanne, which can be viewed as it was at the painter's death.
- Jas de Bouffan, the house and grounds of Cézanne's father, now partially open to the public.
Prior to 1989 Aix had several libraries, for example in the Parc Jourdan and the Town Hall. In 1989, many of these were moved to the Méjanes, an old match factory.
In 1993, the "Cité du Livre" was opened around the library. This has media spaces for dance, cinema and music, and a training facility for librarians. Adjacent to the Cité du Livre are the Grand Théâtre de Provence and the Pavillon Noir (see above).
Mont Sainte-Victoire
Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Montagne Sainte-Victoire — in Provençal Occitan: Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and Ventùri / Santo Ventùri according to Mistralian orthography — is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France which extends over 18 kilometres between the départements of...
(1011 m), one of the landmarks of the Pays d'Aix. It is accessible from the centre of Aix by road or on foot, taking the wooded footpath of Escrachou Pevou to the plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
of Bibemus. It dramatically overshadows the small dam built by Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
's father and was a favourite subject and haunt of Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
throughout his lifetime. In the village of le Tholonet
Le Tholonet
Le Tholonet is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Tholonétiens.-Geography:...
on the precipitous southern side of Mont Sainte-Victoire, there is a windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
that he used and beyond that a mountain hut, the refuge Cézanne, where he liked to paint.
To the north, the mountain slopes gently down through woodland to the village of Vauvenargues
Vauvenargues, Bouches-du-Rhône
Vauvenargues is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. It is close to Aix-en-Provence and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire.-Population:-Chateau of Vauvenargues:...
. The Château of Vauvenargues
Château of Vauvenargues
The Château of Vauvenargues is a fortified bastide in the village of Vauvenargues, situated to the northof Montagne Sainte-Victoire, just outside the town of Aix-en-Provence in the south of France....
overlooking the village was formerly occupied the by the Counts of Provence (including René of Anjou) and the Archbishops of Aix before it became the family home of the marquis de Vauvenargues
Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues
Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues was a minor French writer, a moralist. He died at age 31, in broken health, having published the year prior—anonymously—a collection of essays and aphorisms with the encouragement of Voltaire, his friend. He first received public notice under his own name...
. It was acquired by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
in 1958, who was resident there from 1959 until 1962, when he moved to Mougins
Mougins
Mougins is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It is located on the heights of Cannes, in the district of Grasse. Mougins is a 15-minute drive from Cannes. The village is surrounded by forests, such as the Valmasque forest...
. He and his wife wife Jacqueline are buried in its grounds,
which are not usually open to the public. From 2009 onwards, the chateau, which now belongs to Jacqueline's daughter Catherine Hutin, has been open to the public from June to September.
Mont Sainte-Victoire has a complex network of paths, leading to the priory and Croix de Provence at the summit, to the large man-made reservoir of Bimont and to the roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
above le Tholonet.
Economy
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
.
Current economic activities include:
- Tourism.
- Entertainment, particularly opera and dance.
- The semiconductorSemiconductorA semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
and electronicsElectronicsElectronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
industry in RoussetRousset, Bouches-du-RhôneRousset is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France close to Aix-en-Provence.The town is known for its semiconductor area that groups Atmel and STMicroelectronics.-History:...
, to the south of Mont St VictoireMontagne Sainte-VictoireMontagne Sainte-Victoire — in Provençal Occitan: Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and Ventùri / Santo Ventùri according to Mistralian orthography — is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France which extends over 18 kilometres between the départements of...
, specializing in microchipIntegrated circuitAn integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
technology for credit cardCredit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
s. - Education and research. In Aix the University of Aix-MarseilleUniversity of Aix-MarseilleAix-Marseille University is a public university in France created by the merger of the University of Provence, the University of the Mediterranean and the Paul Cézanne University...
specializes in the humanitiesHumanitiesThe humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, law and economics. - The computer software industry.
- The manufacture of santons, traditional hand-crafted figurines, often associated with provencalProvenceProvence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
Christmas crechesNativity sceneA nativity scene, manger scene, krippe, crèche, or crib, is a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke...
. - The manufacture of olive oilOlive oilOlive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
. - The manufacture of calissonCalissonCalissons are a traditional French candy consisting of a smooth, pale yellow, homogeneous paste of candied fruit and ground almonds topped with a thin layer of royal icing. Calissons have a texture not unlike that of marzipan, but with a fruitier, distinctly melon-like flavor...
s, a lozenge-shaped confection made from almondAlmondThe almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s and crystallised melon. Each year in early September, there is a mass in French and Provençal in the medieval church of St Jean de Malte to bless the calissons – la bénédiction des calissons. This ceremony has been held since the seventeenth century to mark the deliverance of Aix from the plagueBubonic plaguePlague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. It is currently accompanied by a colourful provencalProvenceProvence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
pageantProcessionA procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
, involving most of the local calisson manufacturers and their wares. - ViticultureViticultureViticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
: the local Appellation d'Origine ContrôléeAppellation d'Origine ContrôléeAppellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
is Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence AOC, with many vineyards between Aix and the River DuranceDuranceThe Durance is a major river in south-eastern France.Its source is in the south-western Alps, in Montgenèvre ski resort near Briançon and it flows south-west through the following départements and cities:* Hautes-Alpes: Briançon, Embrun.* Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Sisteron, Manosque.* Vaucluse:...
to the north. The reputed appellation of Palette AOCPalette AOCPalette is a small wine AOC in the Provence region of southern France, near Aix-en-Provence. The AOC was established in 1948.Red, white and rosé wines are produced, in approximately equal quantities. The red wines must contain at least 50% of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Cinsaut...
is represented by the estates of Château Simone in MeyreuilMeyreuilMeyreuil is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France, about from Aix en Provence.-Geography:Located from Aix-en-Provence, the commune of Meyreuil is sheltered in the northeast by the mountain Montagne Sainte-Victoire, and the district of Canet is separated from the chief...
and Château Crémade in Le TholonetLe TholonetLe Tholonet is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Tholonétiens.-Geography:...
, to the east of Aix. - Chocolate: the well known Chocolaterie de PuyricardPuyricardPuyricard is an agglomeration in the Bouches-du-Rhône département in Provence in the south of France, dependent on the town of Aix-en-Provence, approximately 10 km to the north...
is situated in the hills to the north of Aix.
The airline Twin Jet
Twin Jet
Twin Jet is an airline based in Aix en Provence, France, which started in May 2001 with its first scheduled flight in March 2002. It is also a Flying Blue partner.-Flights:...
has its head office in Aix-en-Provence.
Transport
Autoroutes of France
The Autoroute system in France consists largely of toll roads, except around large cities and in parts of the north. It is a network of worth of motorways. Autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo...
s connecting Aix to nearby towns. There are autoroutes northwards to Avignon and to the Luberon
Luberon
The Luberon or Luberon Massif , also called Lubéron, has a maximum altitude of 1,256 m and an area of about 600 km²...
; southwards to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
; and eastwards to Aubagne
Aubagne
Aubagne is a commune located east of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.The French Foreign Legion has its headquarters there...
and the Mediterranean coast of Provence; and to Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
and other towns on the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. Aix and Marseille are equidistant from the international airport of Marseille-Provence
Marseille Provence Airport
Marseille Provence Airport or Aéroport de Marseille Provence is an airport located 27 km northwest of Marseille, on the territory of Marignane, both communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région of France...
(MRS) at Marignane
Marignane
Marignane is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France.-Geography:It is a component of the metropolitan Marseille Provence Métropole, and the largest suburb of the city of Marseille...
on the Etang de Berre
Étang de Berre
The Étang de Berre is a body of water adjacent to the Mediterranean, about 25km north-west of Marseille.-Geography:Created by the rise in water levels at the end of the last ice age, this small inland sea is composed of...
. There is another airport at
Les Milles, which is mostly used by general aviation. There is a frequent bus shuttle service from the main bus station in Aix which also serves the nearby TGV station
Gare d'Aix-en-Provence TGV
Aix-en-Provence TGV is a passenger railway station on the LGV Méditerranée high-speed line in southwestern France. Located, in fact, much closer to the town of Vitrolles than to Aix-en-Provence itself , the station also serves northern metropolitan Marseille...
at l'Arbois, in the middle of the countryside about 10 miles (16 km) from Aix.
At Aix, the line from Paris branches to Marseille and Nice; it takes about 3 hours to get from Paris to Aix by TGV. Aix also has a railway station near the centre, Gare d'Aix-en-Provence
Gare d'Aix-en-Provence
Gare d'Aix-en-Provence is one of the railway stations serving the city Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône department, southeastern France. The other station, served by long distance high speed trains, is Gare d'Aix-en-Provence TGV, about 15 km southwest of town....
, with connections to Marseille, Pertuis
Pertuis
Pertuis is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Located south of the Luberon, this town is also near Aix-en-Provence, a famous town. Pertuis has existed since at least 981, while a castle was first built in the 12th century...
and Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
in the French Alps
French Alps
The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....
. A frequent and rapid shuttle bus service for commuters operates between the bus station in Aix and Marseille. There are many other long distance and local buses from the bus station.
In the town itself, there is an inexpensive municipal bus service, including a dial-a-bus service ("proxibus"), a park-and-ride service and tiny electrified buses for those with mobility problems. Those are six seater vehicles that circulate at a speed of 10 mph (4.47 m/s). The central old town of Aix is for the most part pedestrianised. There are large underground and overground parking structures placed at regular intervals on the "boulevard exterieur", the predominantly one-way
One-way traffic
One-way traffic is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction.-General signs:...
ring road
Ring road
A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...
that encircles the old town. Access to the old town is by a series of often narrow one-way streets that can be confusing to navigate for the uninitiated.
As in many other French cities, a short-term bicycle hire scheme nicknamed V'Hello, free for trips of less than half an hour, has recently been put in place by the town council: and has been popular with tourists. As well as overland routes, two "rivers" flow through Aix, the Arc and the Torse, but neither of which can remotely be described as navigable.
Miscellaneous
The local Aix dialect, rarely used and spoken by a rapidly decreasing number of people, is part of the provencal dialect of Occitan language. The provencal for "Aix-en-Provence" is "Ais de Prouvènço" [ˈaj de pʀuˈvɛ̃sɔ]. Most of the older streets in Aix have names in both Provençal and French.Aix hosted the ninth International Congress of Modern Architecture
Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
The Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne – CIAM was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged around the world by the most prominent architects of the time, with the objective of spreading the principles of the Modern...
in 1953.
Aix is the home town of the rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team Pays d'Aix RC
Pays d'Aix RC
Pays d'Aix RC is a French rugby union club currently playing in Pro D2, the second tier of the country's professional system. They arrived in Pro D2 for the 2009–10 season after earning promotion from the top amateur league, Fédérale 1....
. It played host to the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
during the early stages of the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
.
Ysabel
Ysabel
Ysabel is the tenth novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was first published in January 2007 by Viking Canada. It is Kay's first urban fantasy and his first book set outside his fantasied Europe milieux since the publication of his first three novels in the 1980s...
, the tenth novel of the best-selling Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian author of fantasy fiction. Many of his novels are set in fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid...
, was set and written in Aix.
International relations
Aix-en-Provence is officially twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the following seven cities (in alphabetical order):
Ashkelon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
, Israel since 1995 Bath, Somerset, England since 1977 Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, Tunisia since 1993 Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
, Portugal since 1982 Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Andalusia, Spain since 1978 Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
, Umbria, Italy since 1970 Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, Baden-Württemberg, Germany since 1960
In addition, Aix has international cooperations, partnerships and exchanges with the following cities from all over the world: Oujda
Oujda
Oujda is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of 1 million. The city is located about 15 kilometers west of Algeria and about 60 kilometers south of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Oriental Region of Morocco and the birthplace of the current Algerian president,...
, Morocco since 1997 Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
, Lebanon Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
, Mali Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, Louisiana, United States Coral Gables
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, southwest of Downtown Miami, in the United States. The city is home to the University of Miami....
, Florida, United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States since 1998 Chaoyang, Liaoning, China Foshan
Foshan
Foshan is a city in central Guangdong province in southern China. The prefectural area under the city's jurisdiction over an area of about 3,840 km² and a population of 5.4 million of which 1.1 million reside in the city proper ....
, Guangdong, China Meguro
Meguro, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It calls itself Meguro City in English.Meguro hosts fifteen foreign embassies and consulates. One of Tokyo's most exclusive residential neighborhoods is located in Meguro....
, Tokyo, Japan Kumamoto
Kumamoto, Kumamoto
is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Greater Kumamoto has a population of 1,460,000, as of the 2000 census...
, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Births
- Eleanor of ProvenceEleanor of ProvenceEleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....
(died 1291), queen consortQueen consortA queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of King Henry III of EnglandHenry III of EnglandHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready... - Charles Annibal FabrotCharles Annibal FabrotCharles Annibal Fabrot was a French jurisconsult.-Biography:He was born in Aix-en-Provence. At an early age he made great progress in the ancient languages and in the civil and the Canon law, and in 1602 he received the degree of doctor of law, and was made avocat to the parlement of Aix...
, (1580–1659), French jurist, born in Aix - David-Augustin de BrueysDavid-Augustin de BrueysDavid-Augustin de Brueys was a French theologian and dramatist. He was born in Aix-en-Provence. His family was Calvinist, and he studied theology. After writing a critique of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet's work, he was in turn converted to Catholicism by Bossuet, and later became a priest.After his...
, (1640–1723) theologian and playwright - Joseph Pitton de TournefortJoseph Pitton de TournefortJoseph Pitton de Tournefort was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants.- Biography :...
, (1656–1708), botanist - André CampraAndré CampraAndré Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
1660–1744, composer and conductor - Jean-Baptiste van LooJean-Baptiste van LooJean-Baptiste van Loo was a French subject and portrait painter.-Biography:He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jacob van Loo...
(1684–1745), painter - Laurent BelissenLaurent BelissenLaurent Belissen was a French Baroque composer. He was born in Aix-en-Provence and may have been among the last students of Guillaume Poitevin, then maître de musique at the choir school of the Aix Cathedral.By 1722 Belissen settled in Marseille, where he succeeded Antoine Blanchard as maître de...
, (1693–1762), baroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
composer - Joseph LieutaudJoseph LieutaudJoseph Lieutaud , was a French doctor.-Biography:Joseph Lieutaud started studying botany, following in the wake of his uncle, Pierre Joseph Garidel, and went on to be called upon as a doctor in the Hotel-Dieu in Aix-en-Provence...
, (1703–1780), doctor to Louis XV of FranceLouis XV of FranceLouis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723... - Luc de Clapiers, marquis de VauvenarguesLuc de Clapiers, marquis de VauvenarguesLuc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues was a minor French writer, a moralist. He died at age 31, in broken health, having published the year prior—anonymously—a collection of essays and aphorisms with the encouragement of Voltaire, his friend. He first received public notice under his own name...
, (1715–1747), writer and moralist - Joseph SecJoseph SecJoseph Sec was a bourgeois, a Jacobin and a grey penitent from Aix-en-Provence. He was a master carpenter and wood merchant..-Joseph-Sec Mausoleum:...
, (1715–1794), a carpenter and an architect - Jean-François Pierre PeyronJean-François Pierre PeyronJean-François Pierre Peyron, full name of Pierre Peyron was a French neoclassical painter.-Biography:In his native city of Aix he studied art under Claude Arnulphy...
, (1744–1814), painter - Jean-Baptiste GiraudJean-Baptiste GiraudJean-Baptiste Giraud, , was a French sculptor.-Biography:Made rich by his uncle's inheritance, he spent eight years in Italy, to study the Ancient Arts there...
, (1752–1830), sculptor - Toussaint-Bernard Éméric-DavidToussaint-Bernard Éméric-DavidToussaint-Bernard Émeric-David was a French archaeologist and writer on art.-Life:Éméric-David was born in Aix-en-Provence. He gained a law degree at the university at Aix-en-Provence in 1775...
, (1755–1839), archeologist and arts writer - Antoine Balthazar Joachim d'AndréAntoine Balthazar Joachim d'AndréAntoine Balthazar Joachim, baron d'André was a French royalist politician.He was born at Aix-en-Provence. At the onset of the French Revolution he was a conseiller at the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence. Sent as a representative of the nobility and the sénéchaussée of Aix to the États généraux of...
, (1759–1825), member of the National Constituent Assembly of 1789 - François Marius GranetFrançois Marius GranetFrançois Marius Granet , French painter, was born in Aix-en-Provence; his father was a small builder.-Biography:...
(1775–1849), painter - Charles-Joseph-Eugene de MazenodCharles-Joseph-Eugene de MazenodSaint Eugene De Mazenod born Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod and more commonly known as Eugene De Mazenod, was a Frenches Catholic clergman, beatified on 19 October 1975 by Pope Paul VI, and canonized on 3 December 1995 by Pope John Paul II.-Biography:The saint was born on the Cours Mirabeau in...
(1782–1861), bishop of Marseille and founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary ImmaculateMissionary Oblates of Mary ImmaculateThe Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816 by Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, 1782. The congregation was given recognition by Pope... - François MignetFrançois MignetFrançois Auguste Marie Mignet was a French journalist and historian.-Biography:He was born in Aix-en-Provence , France. His father was a locksmith from the Vendée, who enthusiastically accepted the principles of the French Revolution and encouraged liberal ideas in his son...
, (1796–1884), historian - François Vincent LatilFrançois Vincent LatilFrançois Vincent Mathieu Latil , was a French painter.-Biography:In 1818 he joined the École des Beaux-Arts...
, (1796–1890), French painter - Achille EmperaireAchille EmperaireAchille Emperaire was a French painter and a friend of Paul Cézanne's.-Biography:Achille Emperaire was born as a dwarf and a hunchback, in Aix-en-Provence in 1829....
, (1829–1898), French painter, friends with Paul CézannePaul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th... - Paul CézannePaul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
(1839–1906), painter who lived and painted in the city - Philippe SolariPhilippe SolariPhilippe Solari was a provencal sculptor, of Italian origin, a contemporary and friend of Paul Cézanne and Emile Zola. He acquired French nationality in 1870.-Youth:...
, (1840–1906), French sculptor - Baptistin BailleBaptistin BailleBaptistin Baille was born Jean-Baptiste Baille in France, in 1841 and he died in 1918. He was a professor of optics and acoustics at the École de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles in Paris and a close friend of Paul Cézanne, the impressionist artist, and of Émile Zola who would later become a...
, (1841–1918), professor of opticsOpticsOptics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
and acousticsAcousticsAcoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics... - Maurice RouvierMaurice RouvierMaurice Rouvier was a French statesman.He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and spent his early career in business at Marseille. He supported Léon Gambetta's candidature there in 1867, and in 1870 he founded an anti-imperial journal, L'Egalité. Becoming secretary general of the prefecture of...
(1842–1911), politician - Alfred CapusAlfred CapusAlfred Capus was a French journalist and playwright, born in Aix-en-Provence and deceased in Neuilly-sur-Seine.-Biography:Son to a lawyer from Marseille, Alfred Capus went to university in Toulon...
(1858–1922), playwright, member of the Académie françaiseAcadémie françaiseL'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,... - Henri BrémondHenri BrémondHenri Bremond was a French literary scholar, sometime Jesuit, and Catholic philosopher, one of the theological modernists.-Biography:...
(1864–1933), theologian - Armand LunelArmand LunelArmand Lunel was a French writer and the last known speaker of Shuadit , a now-extinct Occitan language...
, (1892–1977), last known speaker of ShuaditShuadit languageShuadit, also spelled Chouhadite, Chouhadit, Chouadite, Chouadit, and Shuhadit is the extinct Jewish language of southern France, also known as Judaeo-Provençal, Judéo-Comtadin, Hébraïco-Comtadin... - Darius MilhaudDarius MilhaudDarius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
(1892–1984), composer and teacher - Paul VeynePaul VeynePaul Veyne, born 13 June 1930 in Aix-en-Provence, is a French archaeologist and historian, and a specialist on Ancient Rome. A former student of the École normale supérieure and member of the École française de Rome, he is now honorary professor at the Collège de France.-Biography:From an ordinary...
, (born in 1930), historian and archeologist - Jacques PellegrinJacques Pellegrin (painter)Jacques Pellegrin is a French painter.-Biography:Jacques Pellegrin paints portraits, landscapes and still lifes. He started to paint at age eight. When he was eleven years old, he carried off the first prize from the Aix-en-Provence city hall.His style connected first to classic and realist art...
(born 1944), painter - Frédéric FekkaiFrédéric FekkaiFrédéric Fekkai is a French celebrity hairstylist.-Early life:Fekkai was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, and grew up in Aix-en-Provence and Paris...
(born 1958), celebrity hairstylist - Julia ZemiroJulia ZemiroJulia Zemiro is an Australian television presenter, radio host, actor, singer and comedian.- Early life :...
(born 1967), French-Australian actor and host of Australian television program RockwizRocKwizRocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music, and broadcast on SBS One. It premiered in 2005.-Summary:The forty minute program airs on Saturday at 9:20 pm, and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly... - Hélène GrimaudHélène GrimaudHélène Grimaud is a French pianist.-Biography:Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France. Although her autobiography Variations Sauvages suggests a...
(born 1969), concert pianist - Franck CammasFranck CammasFranck Cammas is a French yachtsman. He has lived in Brittany since his victory in the Challenge Espoir Crédit Agricole in 1994. After completing a two year maths course for the ‘Grandes écoles’, as well as a piano academy, Franck Cammas finally opted for a career in sailing...
(born 1972), Professional racing sailor - Arnaud ClémentArnaud ClémentArnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...
(born 1977), professional tennis player, finalist at the Australian Open in 2001
Famous residents
- Saint MaximinSaint-Maximin-la-Sainte-BaumeSaint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It lies east of Aix-en-Provence, in the westernmost point of Var département. It is located at the foot of the Sainte-Baume mountains: baume or bama is the Provençal...
, the early ChristianEarly ChristianityEarly Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
disciple and first bishop of Aix, who according to provencal traditionArchbishopric of AixThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aix is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church, in France. The Archepiscopal see is located in the city of Aix-en-Provence. The diocese comprises the department of Bouches-du-Rhône , in the Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
evangelised Aix with Mary MagdaleneMary MagdaleneMary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses... - Saint MitreSaint MitreMitre was a Catholic saint, who was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and died in Aix-en-Provence.-Biography:According to the legend, Mitre, a field worker living in Aix-en-Provence with Arvendus, was charged with witchcraft for making a miracle come true. He was beheaded...
, the Christian martyrMartyrA martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
who died in Aix in 466 and whose relics are preserved in the Cathedral - Barthélemy d'EyckBarthélemy d'EyckBarthélemy d'Eyck, van Eyck or d' Eyck , was an Early Netherlandish artist who worked in France and probably in Burgundy as a painter and manuscript illuminator...
, painter - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de PeirescNicolas-Claude Fabri de PeirescNicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc was a French astronomer, antiquary and savant who maintained a wide correspondence with scientists and was a successful organizer of scientific inquiry...
, (1580–1637), a scientist best known for his correspondence - Jean DaretJean DaretJean Daret was a Flemish-French painter.-Biographie:Jean Daret was born in Brussels in 1613.He was appointed an official painter for King Louis XIV. He specialised in decorating mansions, namely Chateau de Chateaurenard, at Rue Gaston Saporta, in Aix-en-Provence.He died in Aix-en-Provence at age...
, (1613–1668), the French painter, who died in Aix - Pierre Joseph GaridelPierre Joseph GaridelPierre Joseph Garidel , was a French botanist.-Biography:He did medical studies in Mérindol and Bicaïs...
, (1658–1737), the botanist - Claude ArnulphyClaude ArnulphyClaude Arnulphy , also spelt Arnulphi, was a French painter, chiefly of portraits, based at Aix-en-Provence in the south of France.-Early life:...
, (1697–1786), painter - Jean-Baptiste Marie de Piquet, Marquis of MéjanesJean-Baptiste Marie de Piquet, Marquis of MéjanesJean-Baptiste Marie de Piquet, Marquis of Méjanes, Lord of Albaron et Saint Vincent, was a French bibliophile, born on 5 August 1729 in Arles, and dead on 5 October 1786 in Paris.-Biography:...
, (1729–1786), who bequeathed to the town his collection of between 60 and 80 thousand books, which later became the municipal library, the Bibliothèque Méjanes - Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de BoisgelinJean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de BoisgelinJean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin was a French prelate, statesman and cardinal.-Life:...
(1732–1804), Archbishop of Aix. - Victor d'HupayVictor d'HupayJoseph Alexandre Victor d'Hupay was a French writer and philosopher.- Life and works :In 1746 Victor d'Hupay was born into an aristocratic family in the village of La Tour-d'Aigues in the Luberon, Provence....
, (1746–1818), writer and philosopher - Paul Byrne, Musician and Cocktail Engineer.
- Jean-Antoine ConstantinJean-Antoine ConstantinJean-Antoine Constantin, , was a French painter.-Biography:Born in the vicinity of the Loubière, in Marseille, Jean-Antoine Constantin studied at the Academy of Painting in Marseille under the tutelage of Jean-Joseph Kappeler, David de Marseille, and Jean-Baptiste Giry...
, (1756–1844), painter - Antoine de L'HoyerAntoine de LhoyerAntoine de Lhoyer was a French virtuoso guitarist and an eminent early romantic composer of mainly chamber music featuring the classical guitar. He was an approximate musical contemporary of Beethoven...
(1768–1852), Composer, Guitarist, Soldier - Ambroise Roux-AlphéranAmbroise Roux-AlphéranAmbroise Roux-Alphéran , aka Ambroise-Thomas Roux-Alphéran, was a French historian and clerk of the court of Aix-en-Provence under the Restoration.-Biography:...
, (1776–1858), a clerk of court and historian - Émile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
(1840–1902), the novelist, who was born in Paris but spent his childhood in Aix - Joseph RavaisouJoseph RavaisouJoseph Ravaisou was a French landscape painter.-Biography:In 1878 Joseph Ravaisou moved to Aix-en-Provence to work as a school teacher, and subsequently became a music conductor and a music critic....
, (1865–1925), French painter, who died in Aix - Louise GermainLouise Germain-Biography:Although she was born in Gap, Hautes-Alpes, she lived in Aix-en-Provence with her husband Eugene and their two children. At age 25, she met Joseph Ravaisou and she took to painting. She also worked alongside Paul Cézanne....
, (1874–1939), French painter, who died in Aix - Joseph d'ArbaudJoseph d'Arbaud-Biography:Born in Meyrargues, he was schooled by Jesuits in Avignon, then studied law in Aix.After spending a few years with young writers from Aix-en-Provence, he left for Camargue and became a bull-herder.In 1918 he became a chief figure in Félibrige....
, (1874–1950), French poet, who died in Aix - Christophe RoussetChristophe RoussetChristophe Rousset is a French harpsichordist and conductor, specializing in the performance of baroque music on period instruments.-Biography:...
, (born 1961), French conductor and harpsichordist, who grew up in Aix - Charles TrenetCharles TrenetCharles Trenet was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s...
, (1942–2001), French poet, painter & Musician, wrote "I Wish You Love" and several evergreen in Aix - Bradley CooperBradley CooperBradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
, (1995–1996), American film, theater, and television actor, who spent his 6 months as an exchange student from Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
See also
- Aix-en-Provence possessionsAix-en-Provence PossessionsIn 1611 at Aix-en-Provence , Father Louis Gaufridi was accused of causing demonic possession in the Ursuline nuns at Aix. He was found guilty and burned at the stake atop a pile of bushes, because they burned slower and hotter than logs. This case provided the legal precedent for the conviction and...
: In 1611, Father Louis Gaufridi was accused of causing demonic possession in the Ursuline nuns at Aix. - Aurelian WayAurelian WayVia Aurelia is an ancient highroad of Italy, the date of the construction of which is unknown. It ran from Rome to Alsium, where it reached the sea, and thence along the...
- Speech and language laboratory (CNRS)