Around 600 BC, Greek navigators coming from Phocea in Asia Minor, landed in the rocky inlet of Lacydon and founded Massilia. The legend says that the chief of the Greek sailors, Protis, married Gyptis, the daughter of the Celt-Ligure king to whom the territory belonged. The city soon became prosperous thanks to its ceramic commerce and its agriculture.

Marseilles became an ally to powerful Rome in order to be protected against the Germanic and Teutonic assaults. But, during the conflict between Caesar and Pompeii, the people of Marseilles chose to support Pompeii. This pushed Caesar to besiege the port of Massilia, and he was successful: in 49 BC, Massilia the Greek became Massilia the Roman and became one of the biggest Mediterranean ports for three centuries.


In 476 AD, the town was taken by Euric, king of the Visigoths at the same time as Rome was falling under the assault of the Barbarian chief, Odoacer. This set the end of the Roman Empire of the West and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Not long after 493, the Ostrogoths murdered Odoacer and seized the north of Italy and Provence.
During the Middle Ages, the identity of Massilia changed massively under the influence of Christianity and Germanic invasions. "Massilia" became "Marselha" which is its name in common Latin (the origin of the Provencal language).

During the 9th century, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, intervened in Provence to chase out the Saracen pirates who buccaneered the Mediterranean basin. But, not long after Charlemagne's death, strong Saracen forces landed in Marseilles and devastated the town, taking valuables and slaves.
Over the years, Marseilles came under the domination of Arabian lords, then Germanic viscounts and, finally, Italian first magistrates.

During the second half of the 13th century, the town was given to Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence. The second to last Count of Provence has stayed in the people's minds as the Bon Roi René (Good King René) who was crowned in 1434. During their reigns, the Kings of Anjou ruined Marseilles with financial and military contributions to the reconquest wars led in Italy. Alphonse V of Aragon chose that time to attack the port. In November 1423, the Aragon soldiers entered the town and devastated it over three days, burning, killing and plundering. As a souvenir of their attack, they took the heavy chain that blocked the entrance to the port and it can still be seen in the cathedral of Valencia in Spain. But Marseilles rapidly managed to rise again as it had done so many times before, and even managed to chase away the Aragon army that came back eight years later.

After René of Anjou's death, Charles of Maine reigned over Provence but only for a year as he died in 1481 giving up the territory to the King of France, Louis XI. On the 15th of January 1482, the Assembly of the States of Provence recognised the King of France as Count of Provence.
Two centuries later, in 1669, Colbert's edict made Marseilles a free port which brought prosperity to the city. But this prosperity disappeared during the great plague of 1720 in which half the population died and commerce stopped complete.



After the French Revolution, volunteers from Marseilles joined the Rhine army and fought the king's troops whilst singing the Marseillaise, set to music by Rouget de l'Isle and decreed the national anthem in 1795 by La Convention.

During the 19th century, the digging of the Suez Canal and the birth of the colonial empire started an industrial and commercial revival for the town: the port was enlarged, the soap factories, the oil-works and various chemical industries developed…
This prosperity continued until the Second World War, but like all occupied towns, Marseilles suffered vast material damage: destruction of the transporter bridge and of the Vieux-Port area.

Today, Marseilles is an enormous regional metropolis enriched by the diversity of its population. The successive influxes of immigrants have given Marseilles its identity and its colour. Marseilles also means several places not to be missed: the Canebière, Notre-Dame de la Garde, the Château d'If, the Vieux-Port and, of course, the Mediterranean!

The Estaque website presents this famous area of Marseilles: walks, history, economy, guides and painters.

The tourism pages of France Telecom invite you on a virtual visit of the town (a 3-D visit!), views and useful information (weather, interactive map etc.).

The official website of Notre Dame de la Garde : photographs, history, guided tours and architecture.

The website of the Marseilles football team OM (Olympique de Marseille) is unavoidable in a town of football supporters! News, the season, the team, the stadium and the shop.

France, the visit:
the Film

From Paris to Marseilles, one of the most beautiful journeys of discovery through France. Available on video and DVD