La Ciotat
Encyclopedia
La Ciotat is a commune
in the Bouches-du-Rhône
department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
region
in southern France
. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence
. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon. Its inhabitants are called "Ciotadens" or "Ciotadennes".
/Catalan
, meaning "the city". It became prominent in the 15th century.
La Ciotat was the setting of one the very first projected motion pictures, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
filmed by the Lumière brothers
in 1895. After several private showings, the fifty-second long film was given a public screening on December 28, 1895, in Paris, the first recorded commercial public showing of a motion picture. According to the Institut Lumière
, before its Paris premiere, the film was shown to invited audiences in several French cities, including La Ciotat. It was screened at the Eden Theater in September 1896, making that theater one of the first motion picture theaters.
Another three of the earliest Lumière films, Partie de cartes
, l'Arroseur arrosé
(the first known filmed comedy), and Repas de bébé
, were also filmed in La Ciotat in 1895, at the Villa du Clos des Plages, the summer residence of the Lumière Brothers.
In 1907 Jules Le Noir invented the game of pétanque
in La Ciotat, and the first tournament was held there in 1910. The history of the game is documented in the Musée Ciotaden.
and Ball Packaging. These offices are a major source of employment and income for the local people through the transport, catering and other services they require. Also, business travelers to La Ciotat drive the local hotel business, which otherwise depends mainly on the tourism season.
train service between Marseille
and Toulon
stops at La Ciotat, almost every hour during the day except for the mid-day one hour break.
Most parts of La Ciotat are covered by its public transport bus service. Although buses are not very frequent, given the small population of the city they serve their purpose. The train station is serviced by route no. 10, 21 and 40 which all go to the La Ciotat downtown
station by different routes. Peak time of bus operations are from 8am to 5pm when people are working in the uptown offices of La Ciotat. After 8pm, buses cease their operation. Same is the case on weekends when buses are rare even at the train station.
Although taxis are available is La Ciotat, it is rare to hail one from the street and usually they have to be called in. Taxis are also hard to hire before 7am and after 8pm. Most call taxis are operated by individuals and are not registered with a central call service number.
The dynamics of public transport change during the summer when La Ciotat is visited by scores of tourists. At that time, more taxis service the area and buses operate more frequently.
and McDonald's
. Route 10 passes through the city centre on its way to downtown from the train station.
, located on the Anse deu Petit Mugel, is classified as one of the Notable Gardens of France
by the French Ministry of Culture
. Sheltered by the massive rock called "Le Bec D'Aigle" (the eagle's beak), 155 meters high, it contains both a botanical garden of tropical plants and a nature preserve of native Provençal plants, covering the hillside below the rock.
La Ciotat is twinned with: Bridgwater
, Somerset
, England
- since 1957 Kranj
, Slovenia
- since 1958 Singen
, Baden-Württemberg
, Germany
- since 1958 Torre Annunziata
, Italy
- since 2006
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 the 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:...
department in the 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...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
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...
. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence
Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole
The Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole is the intercommunal structure gathering the city of Marseille and some of its suburbs....
. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon. Its inhabitants are called "Ciotadens" or "Ciotadennes".
History
La Ciotat is called "La Ciutat" in Occitan/ProvençalProvençal 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...
/Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, meaning "the city". It became prominent in the 15th century.
La Ciotat was the setting of one the very first projected motion pictures, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de la Ciotat
L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed...
filmed by the Lumière brothers
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history...
in 1895. After several private showings, the fifty-second long film was given a public screening on December 28, 1895, in Paris, the first recorded commercial public showing of a motion picture. According to the Institut Lumière
Institut Lumière
The Institut Lumière is a French organisation, based in Lyon, for the promotion and preservation of aspects of French film making. The Institut Lumière is a museum that honours the contribution to filmmaking by Auguste and Louis Lumière - inventors of the cinématographe and fathers of the cinema.It...
, before its Paris premiere, the film was shown to invited audiences in several French cities, including La Ciotat. It was screened at the Eden Theater in September 1896, making that theater one of the first motion picture theaters.
Another three of the earliest Lumière films, Partie de cartes
Partie de cartes
Partie de cartes is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent film directed and produced by Louis Lumière and starring Antoine Féraud....
, l'Arroseur arrosé
L'Arroseur Arrosé
L'Arroseur arrosé is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent comedy film directed and produced by Louis Lumière and starring François Clerc and Benoît Duval...
(the first known filmed comedy), and Repas de bébé
Repas de bébé
Repas de bébé is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Louis Lumière and starring Andrée Lumière....
, were also filmed in La Ciotat in 1895, at the Villa du Clos des Plages, the summer residence of the Lumière Brothers.
In 1907 Jules Le Noir invented the game of pétanque
Pétanque
Pétanque is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing inside a starting circle with both feet on the ground, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet or jack. It is also sometimes called a bouchon or le petit...
in La Ciotat, and the first tournament was held there in 1910. The history of the game is documented in the Musée Ciotaden.
Population
Commerce and Industry
La Ciotat has a large number of offices uptown. These include some big names such as GemaltoGemalto
Gemalto is an international digital security company, providing secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens in addition to software applications and managed services. The company was formed in June 2006 by the combination of two companies Axalto and Gemplus International...
and Ball Packaging. These offices are a major source of employment and income for the local people through the transport, catering and other services they require. Also, business travelers to La Ciotat drive the local hotel business, which otherwise depends mainly on the tourism season.
Transport
The primary mode of transport into La Ciotat is the train station which is a ten minutes drive from the city centre. The SNCFSNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
train service between 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 Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
stops at La Ciotat, almost every hour during the day except for the mid-day one hour break.
Most parts of La Ciotat are covered by its public transport bus service. Although buses are not very frequent, given the small population of the city they serve their purpose. The train station is serviced by route no. 10, 21 and 40 which all go to the La Ciotat downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
station by different routes. Peak time of bus operations are from 8am to 5pm when people are working in the uptown offices of La Ciotat. After 8pm, buses cease their operation. Same is the case on weekends when buses are rare even at the train station.
Although taxis are available is La Ciotat, it is rare to hail one from the street and usually they have to be called in. Taxis are also hard to hire before 7am and after 8pm. Most call taxis are operated by individuals and are not registered with a central call service number.
The dynamics of public transport change during the summer when La Ciotat is visited by scores of tourists. At that time, more taxis service the area and buses operate more frequently.
Centre
The centre has shopping malls along with branches of CarrefourCarrefour
Carrefour S.A. is an international hypermarket chain headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world...
and McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
. Route 10 passes through the city centre on its way to downtown from the train station.
Beach
La Ciotat has an artificial sand beach because of its rocky location. The beach is located downtown and is at walking distance from local market, the ship yards and the main bus station. The beach faces the Alps mountain regions on one side and the uphill commercial area on the other side. Most hotels, restaurants and bars in La Ciotat are located on the same street.Miscellaneous
The municipal park of La Ciotat, the Parc du MugelParc du Mugel
The Parc du Mugel is a municipal park and botanical garden in the town of La Ciotat, in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône, on the Mediterranean coast of France between Marseille and Toulon. It is listed among the Notable Gardens of France by the French Ministry of Culture.- History :In...
, located on the Anse deu Petit Mugel, is classified as one of the Notable Gardens of France
Notable gardens of France
The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the over two hundred gardens classified as "Jardins remarquables" by the French Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France...
by the French Ministry of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
. Sheltered by the massive rock called "Le Bec D'Aigle" (the eagle's beak), 155 meters high, it contains both a botanical garden of tropical plants and a nature preserve of native Provençal plants, covering the hillside below the rock.
La Ciotat is twinned with: Bridgwater
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- since 1957 Kranj
Kranj
' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
- since 1958 Singen
Singen
Singen is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border.-Location:...
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- since 1958 Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata is a city and comune in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located at the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.-History:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- since 2006
See also
- L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La CiotatL'Arrivée d'un train en gare de la CiotatL'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed...
, an 1896 film by the Lumière brothersAuguste and Louis LumièreThe Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean , were among the earliest filmmakers in history... - CalanqueCalanqueA calanque is a steep-walled inlet, cove, or bay that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast...
- Corniche des CrêtesCorniche des CrêtesThe Corniche des Crêtes is a picturesque and narrow coastal road in the south of France, winding from Cassis to La Ciotat along the Mediterranean shore....
- Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department