Marseillan, Hérault
Encyclopedia
Marseillan is a commune
in the Hérault
department in southern France
.
It lies some 50 km (31.1 mi) west of Montpellier
.
Marseillan sits on a large salt-water lake, the Étang de Thau
and is the southern Entreport for the Canal du Midi
.
The village is tranquil, with its heart still within the lines of the old walls. There is one small hotel and some 18 cafes and restaurants. For sun, sea and sand there is Marseillan Plage, a purpose built holiday resort on the Mediterranean
itself. (Some 3 km (1.9 mi) from Marseillan Ville).
The port is a protected heritage site, and the altar and organ in the church are also listed. There has been virtually no new building in the heart of the village since the 17th century, many of the houses date from the twelfth century.
Until 1970 the vineyards came to the main boulevards built outside the line of the walls around 1870. Since then the population has exploded. From around 3,000 throughout the last 200 years to over 10,000 in 2010. (And this does not include those who have bought houses and villas in Marseillan but use them only as holiday homes.) Expectation is that the population will top 14,000 by 2015.
claims that honour, understandable because of the two names. But both names are derived from the Greco/Phoenician Massaliotes who extended trading routes from the eastern Mediterranean.
The Massaliotes certainly founded Marseille around 600 BC and, shortly after, Agde
. Thus Agde is the second oldest town in France. But who founded Marseillan? As Agde is only 8 km (5 mi) it seems most likely that the Agatois were the founders. Either way the origins of all three places lie with the Greco/Phoenicians. And, either way, Marseillan is one of the oldest villages in France.
The Romans established the port, and with the Via Domitia
running close they also established a rest and recreation centre. Many legionnaires took their discharge at Marseillan, and with it a grant of land - on which they grew vines.
to Marseillan. Thus from the beginning Marseillan was a trading post.
Over the years this waterway silted up, forming the series of Etangs, the largest of which being the Étang de Thau, but then the Canal du Midi opened and Marseillan, as the Entreport, was a major beneficiary.
It follows that from the very early days Marseillan had the four bases of trade that exist today.
Much later Marseillan was linked by the Rhone-Sète Canal to the river Rhone and by the Canal du Midi to Toulouse
and thence to the Atlantic at Bordeaux
. Its location means that Marseillan became a crucial link in the network of canals that still encircle France.
‘Bouziques’ oyster
s, from the Etang, provide about 10% of France’s annual oyster consumption. They are cultivated from oyster tables with one farmer able to bring up a family comfortably on the production from two tables.
Mussels are taken from the rich band of mussel
-friendly water that runs along the Mediterranean coast from Marseillan to Marseilles. Marseillan fishers work 3 km from the shore, with the Agatois in larger boats fishing further out.
Sea fish are also caught in the Etang. They are carried in by the force of the current generated by the narrowness of the canals. (No tides on the Mediterranean, but the mass of water shifts dependent on the prevailing wind. Thus the level of the Etang is constantly shifting.)
The Noilly Prat
company came to Marseillan in 1853, and is still producing its vermouth
s on the same site. Mr Noilly had created the vermouth in Lyon
in 1813. His son, with an English partner (Mr Prat), came to Marseillan to commercialise their product because the local wines were very suitable and the climate was ideal.
Today much of the village’s prosperity comes from the summer visitors: holidaymakers in Marseillan Plage, day visitors to Marseillan Ville, houseboat visitors from the Canal du Midi and owners of holiday homes.
To some degree even those northerners who have settled permanently are visitors. Certainly they make a substantial contribution to the local economy.
From the second century BC Marseillan was protected by earthworks, but by Roman times it had a timber stockade. This was sufficient until Simon de Montfort
and his army passed through during the Cathar Crusade. New stone fortifications then replaced the timber.
The Chateau sat foursquare in the centre of the village, behind its own walls, whilst the village walls were themselves four-and-a-half meters high. There were four gates, six watchtowers and the village was moated.
Most houses in the old village are small or very small. Their staircases are narrow, and twisty.
Some larger homes were owned by the entrepreneurs who typically moved out of the village and into the main boulevards from around 1870.
These new large homes were also working houses. ‘Maisons de maître’ and ‘maisons de vigneron’ have no particular architectural style, but they are all of two or three storeys, with the ground floor a working area. All have double doors to allow entry to the horse drawn transport. Sometimes there was direct access from the rear of the house to the vineyards. Almost always there was a small kitchen garden and a pump.
In the winter the ground expands, and in summer it contracts. The houses have to be able to flex to cope with these changes. So lime mixed with sand from the beach was used rather than cement (which hardly flexes), and cracks in the facade are normal. Some houses are built from soft limestone
which was taken from the vineyards. Basalt
, hard volcanic stone, is commonly used for door and window frames.
It is not uncommon to find that houses have been adapted and renovated over the ages and many have several different building materials co-existing within the one building. Renovation is not a modern initiative, Marseillan houses have been renovated and adapted since they were first built.
Today bathrooms have been added, but piped water and sanitation have only been in the village since 1958. Most houses had their private pump, however.
the weather systems from the north are seldom a problem. Marseillan has some 300 sunny days a year, and ground frosts (at worst) in mid-winter. From time-to-time a little snow falls, but this only dusts the ground and is gone by mid-day. Marseillanais make day trips into the mountains to experience snowballing and to make snowmen.
The prevailing winds are from the south-west, and south. Marseillan receives the hot winds from the Sahara
but, fortunately, does not suffer the pink sand that those winds carry out to sea. The Mistral
blows down the Rhone valley and, although a northerly wind is sometimes referred to as a “mistral” it has none of the severity nor persistence of the true version.
An hospital existed in 1,100 and is still treating patients today (having had several homes over the years!). The maire (mayor) was elected in the village 200 years before this was required by Royal decree. Public schooling started in the mid-18th century. The school was co-educational from 1870 (but not the classes). The oldest stone Marianne
in France was erected in 1878, following a wooden bust created in 1876. Marseillan voted to become secular some 10 years before the country as a whole. Women were allowed into one designated cafe from 1870 — again earlier than most other towns and villages.
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 Hérault
Hérault
Hérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
department 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 lies some 50 km (31.1 mi) west of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
.
Marseillan sits on a large salt-water lake, the Étang de Thau
Étang de Thau
Étang de Thau or Bassin de Thau is the largest of a string of étangs that stretch along the Languedoc-Roussillon, French coast from the Rhône River to the foothills of the Pyrenees which form the border to Spain. It is the second largest lake in France.-Description:It is about 21 km long...
and is the southern Entreport for the Canal du Midi
Canal du Midi
The is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...
.
The village is tranquil, with its heart still within the lines of the old walls. There is one small hotel and some 18 cafes and restaurants. For sun, sea and sand there is Marseillan Plage, a purpose built holiday resort on the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
itself. (Some 3 km (1.9 mi) from Marseillan Ville).
The port is a protected heritage site, and the altar and organ in the church are also listed. There has been virtually no new building in the heart of the village since the 17th century, many of the houses date from the twelfth century.
Until 1970 the vineyards came to the main boulevards built outside the line of the walls around 1870. Since then the population has exploded. From around 3,000 throughout the last 200 years to over 10,000 in 2010. (And this does not include those who have bought houses and villas in Marseillan but use them only as holiday homes.) Expectation is that the population will top 14,000 by 2015.
History
There is dispute as to who exactly founded the village. MarseilleMarseille
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...
claims that honour, understandable because of the two names. But both names are derived from the Greco/Phoenician Massaliotes who extended trading routes from the eastern Mediterranean.
The Massaliotes certainly founded Marseille around 600 BC and, shortly after, Agde
Agde
Agde is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi.-Location:Agde is located on the river Hérault, 4 km from the Mediterranean Sea, and 750 km from Paris...
. Thus Agde is the second oldest town in France. But who founded Marseillan? As Agde is only 8 km (5 mi) it seems most likely that the Agatois were the founders. Either way the origins of all three places lie with the Greco/Phoenicians. And, either way, Marseillan is one of the oldest villages in France.
The Romans established the port, and with the Via Domitia
Via Domitia
The Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis, across what is now southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, so old that it traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles...
running close they also established a rest and recreation centre. Many legionnaires took their discharge at Marseillan, and with it a grant of land - on which they grew vines.
Economy
Marseillan's economy is founded on fish, wines, trade and visitors. This has always been so because from its foundation Marseillan has been a major trading centre, a port and a stopping-off point for travellers.Trade
When the village was founded there was a clean inland waterway paralleling the Mediterranean - described as "une petite mer intérieure et tranquille". Thus sailors could make their way in safety from the RhôneRhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
to Marseillan. Thus from the beginning Marseillan was a trading post.
Over the years this waterway silted up, forming the series of Etangs, the largest of which being the Étang de Thau, but then the Canal du Midi opened and Marseillan, as the Entreport, was a major beneficiary.
It follows that from the very early days Marseillan had the four bases of trade that exist today.
Much later Marseillan was linked by the Rhone-Sète Canal to the river Rhone and by the Canal du Midi to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
and thence to the Atlantic at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. Its location means that Marseillan became a crucial link in the network of canals that still encircle France.
Fishing
The Étang de Thau is shallow, with a bottom of foot-deep mud. The conditions are perfect for shellfish and 18 different sorts are fished from the Etang. As the water is Class A they can be eaten straightaway. Most notable are the oysters and the mussels.‘Bouziques’ oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s, from the Etang, provide about 10% of France’s annual oyster consumption. They are cultivated from oyster tables with one farmer able to bring up a family comfortably on the production from two tables.
Mussels are taken from the rich band of mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
-friendly water that runs along the Mediterranean coast from Marseillan to Marseilles. Marseillan fishers work 3 km from the shore, with the Agatois in larger boats fishing further out.
Sea fish are also caught in the Etang. They are carried in by the force of the current generated by the narrowness of the canals. (No tides on the Mediterranean, but the mass of water shifts dependent on the prevailing wind. Thus the level of the Etang is constantly shifting.)
Wines
Table wines are produced, with the most acceptable being Picpoul de Pinet - an attractive white wine with a slight green tint and a little sparkle. About a million bottles annually are produced by the ‘cave co-operative’.The Noilly Prat
Noilly Prat
Noilly Prat was originally a dry, straw-hued vermouth from Marseillan, in the Hérault département of southern France. Joseph Noilly, a herbalist, developed the first formula in 1813. It was the first example of a dry vermouth and is among the golden, straw and white vermouths generally known as...
company came to Marseillan in 1853, and is still producing its vermouth
Vermouth
Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with various dry ingredients. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced around the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Italy and France...
s on the same site. Mr Noilly had created the vermouth in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
in 1813. His son, with an English partner (Mr Prat), came to Marseillan to commercialise their product because the local wines were very suitable and the climate was ideal.
Visitors
Always a stopping point on the long routes along the Mediterranean shore Marseillan has provided travellers with a welcome since the village was founded.Today much of the village’s prosperity comes from the summer visitors: holidaymakers in Marseillan Plage, day visitors to Marseillan Ville, houseboat visitors from the Canal du Midi and owners of holiday homes.
To some degree even those northerners who have settled permanently are visitors. Certainly they make a substantial contribution to the local economy.
Fortification
The old village has remained unchanged through the centuries, and today’s village is almost identical in shape to the one known in the Middle Ages. This is because Marseillan was a fortified village until late in the 18th century.From the second century BC Marseillan was protected by earthworks, but by Roman times it had a timber stockade. This was sufficient until Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester , also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade...
and his army passed through during the Cathar Crusade. New stone fortifications then replaced the timber.
The Chateau sat foursquare in the centre of the village, behind its own walls, whilst the village walls were themselves four-and-a-half meters high. There were four gates, six watchtowers and the village was moated.
Habitation
Most of the village houses are back-to-back. Typically they are of three stories. A stable on the ground floor, living space on the first and fodder stored on the second. The rear rooms are without light or ventilation. With the houses protected from mosquitoes by zinc screens, and in the heat of the Midi, it must have been barely tolerable even to people born into the village. Today the mosquitoes have been eradicated, but it is still uncomfortable in the rear rooms in high summer.Most houses in the old village are small or very small. Their staircases are narrow, and twisty.
Some larger homes were owned by the entrepreneurs who typically moved out of the village and into the main boulevards from around 1870.
These new large homes were also working houses. ‘Maisons de maître’ and ‘maisons de vigneron’ have no particular architectural style, but they are all of two or three storeys, with the ground floor a working area. All have double doors to allow entry to the horse drawn transport. Sometimes there was direct access from the rear of the house to the vineyards. Almost always there was a small kitchen garden and a pump.
Construction
Construction is typically of ‘torchis’ bricks made from sun dried clay and straw. There are no foundations because a meter down is the water table. Every house in Marseillan has rising damp. This is actually essential to the survival of the houses since they have to be built to withstand the climate changes.In the winter the ground expands, and in summer it contracts. The houses have to be able to flex to cope with these changes. So lime mixed with sand from the beach was used rather than cement (which hardly flexes), and cracks in the facade are normal. Some houses are built from soft limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
which was taken from the vineyards. Basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, hard volcanic stone, is commonly used for door and window frames.
It is not uncommon to find that houses have been adapted and renovated over the ages and many have several different building materials co-existing within the one building. Renovation is not a modern initiative, Marseillan houses have been renovated and adapted since they were first built.
Today bathrooms have been added, but piped water and sanitation have only been in the village since 1958. Most houses had their private pump, however.
Climate
Marseillan enjoys an equable climate. Sheltered by the mountains of the Massif CentralMassif Central
The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....
the weather systems from the north are seldom a problem. Marseillan has some 300 sunny days a year, and ground frosts (at worst) in mid-winter. From time-to-time a little snow falls, but this only dusts the ground and is gone by mid-day. Marseillanais make day trips into the mountains to experience snowballing and to make snowmen.
The prevailing winds are from the south-west, and south. Marseillan receives the hot winds from the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
but, fortunately, does not suffer the pink sand that those winds carry out to sea. 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...
blows down the Rhone valley and, although a northerly wind is sometimes referred to as a “mistral” it has none of the severity nor persistence of the true version.
Of interest
The Marseillanais have always taken their time over decisions, but have still been leaders in many areas.An hospital existed in 1,100 and is still treating patients today (having had several homes over the years!). The maire (mayor) was elected in the village 200 years before this was required by Royal decree. Public schooling started in the mid-18th century. The school was co-educational from 1870 (but not the classes). The oldest stone Marianne
Marianne
Marianne is a national emblem of France and an allegory of Liberty and Reason. She represents the state and values of France, differently from another French cultural symbol, the "Coq Gaulois" which represents France as a nation and its history, land, culture, and variety of sport disciplines in...
in France was erected in 1878, following a wooden bust created in 1876. Marseillan voted to become secular some 10 years before the country as a whole. Women were allowed into one designated cafe from 1870 — again earlier than most other towns and villages.
People
- Achille Maffre de BaugéAchille Maffre de BaugéAchille Maffre de Baugé was an Occitan poet, native of Marseillan in the French département of l'Hérault).A friend of Nobel Prize winner Frédéric Mistral, he is best known for Dièzes et Bémols and Terre d'Oc...
(1855-1928) : Poet. - Marcel Barral (known as Marcel Viala) (1912-1997): Poet.
- Pierre DeleyPierre DeleyPierre Deley , was one of the pioneering pilots for the Aéropostale company.He was born in Marseillan, Hérault, the grand nephew and godson of another Marseillan native, Pierre Roques, the founder of French military aviation.He obtained his fighter pilot's licence in 1917 and finished World War I...
: One of the first pilots of the AéropostaleAéropostale (aviation)Aéropostale was a pioneering aviation company. It was founded in 1918 in Toulouse, France, as Société des lignes Latécoère, also known as Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère or simply "The Line" .- History :Aéropostale founder Pierre-Georges Latécoère envisioned an air route connecting France to the...
and grandnephew of Général Roques. - General Pierre Auguste Roques (28 December 1856 - 1920). Founder of French military aviation, Minister of War 1916. Originally buried in Marseillan, his remains now lie in the Hôtel des Invalides, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. - Christian BeullacChristian BeullacChristian Beullac, French politician, born 29 November 1923 in Marseillan, , died 16 June 1986.- Biography :After secondary education in Nice and at the Champollion lycée in Grenoble, he went to the École Polytechnique in 1943 and entered the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées...
, (29 November 1923 - 16 June 1986) French politician. - Jean-Pierre HortolandJean-Pierre HortolandJean-Pierre Hortoland is a French rugby union player, born in Marseillan, Hérault on 28 May 1947. At 1m 80 and 102 kg , he played left prop for AS Béziers and RC Narbonne and in the French national team against Australia at Colombes on 27 November 1971.Armand Vaquerin replaced him at Béziers...
(born 28 May 1947), French rugby unionRugby unionRugby 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...
player.
External links
- Official website
- Official website
- Culture & history
- http://www.thauenimages.fr/CARTE_MARSEILLAN.html Website of panoramic photos of Marseillan and its region