Historic Neighbourhood sights in Marseille
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Le Panier
From the Vieux Port, hike up to this fantastic history-woven quarter, dubbed Marseille’s Montmartre as much for its sloping streets as its artsy ambience. In Greek Massilia it was the site of the agora (marketplace), hence its name, which means ‘the basket’. During WWII the quarter was dynamited and afterwards rebuilt. Today it’s a mishmash of lanes hiding artisan shops, ateliers (workshops) and terraced houses strung with drying washing.
Create your own tour by scouring out recommended addresses such as Compagnie de Provence for savon de Marseille (soap) and Les Navettes des Accoules for traditional biscuits made from orange flour and shaped like torpedos; Place a…
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Vieux Port
Ships have docked for more than 26 centuries at the city’s birthplace, the colourful Old Port . The main commercial docks were transferred to the Joliette area on the coast north of here in the 1840s, but the old port remains a thriving harbour for fishing boats, pleasure yachts and tourists.
Guarding the harbour are Bas Fort St-Nicolas on the south side and, across the water, Fort St-Jean, founded in the 13th century by the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem. Inside its square Roy Renée tower are exhibitions hosted by the national Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée.
The port’s southern quay oozes culture: the curtain goes up on mai…
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