Aix En Provence tourist information
Aix en Provence is located in the South of FRANCE, in the well-known Provence Mediterrannee, in the Bouches du Rhône (13), at the crossroads of East-west (Spain, Italy) and North-South main trades routes.
Well known for its historic and cultural heritage, Aix-en-Provence attracts, every year, many visitors coming from all over the world. Ancient Capital of Provence, one of the most beautiful towns of France for art: cultural town by excellence ...
The heritage of Aix-en-Provence is accessible to everyone, it is in the street, you just have to walk in the town to be dazzled by the beauty of Aix-en-Provence.
Sunny all year, warm winters, hot summers, Aix en Provence benefits from a privileged climate : really mild springs and extended Indian summers.
After the siege, the taking and destruction of the town Celto-Ligure which was on the Entremont plateau, the Roman proconsul Caïus Sextius Calvinus created, in 122 BC., "Aquae Sextiae Salluviorum". The Christian name of the city refers to the hot and cold waters, abundant in the plain which officially welcomed the Romans of Gaul. After the Marius' victory against the Teutons in 102 BC, Aix was developed.
Around 15 BC., the city, elevated to the rank of Colony, and its spas grew considerably, ornating itself with pomp monuments, unlike Arles or Nîmes : fortified surrounding walls with massive doors, a theatre, amphitheatre, thermes, basilica, temples, forum and sumptuous "villae" (Grassi garden) draw the profile of the town crossed by the Aurélienne track. Promoted civil capital of the Second Narbonaise , in the IVth century, then Capital city (Archbishopric) of an ecclesiastical province, the Wisigoths lay siege to the town, then the Lombards, in 574, struck a fatal blow. The big monuments were destroyed or used as quarry. A few rescued columns ornate the town's main springs (City Hall spring, Fontaine Bellegarde Spring, Saint-Louis Spring, Augustins Spring) or were used again in the construction of new edifices. Thus, in the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral, the Paleochristian Baptismal Font, used the Roman columns of the forum next door, which had fallen into ruins.
The archaeological rooms of the Granet museum (Warning : Granet museum is closed until 2006) will permit you to discover the treasures of this heritage discovered by accident during modern construction sites
The Sarrasins were the last "invaders" of Provence. After their defeat in 960, security at last re-established itself, and thanks to the Count of Provence, Guillaume II called "the Liberator", Aix had its first Renaissance. The Bourg Saint-Sauveur developed around the Cathedral with its preromanesque nave and its cloister .
From 1182, the Counts of Provence of the "Maison de Barcelone" chose Aix as capital and built their countal palace around the fortified door which stood in the olden days at the south-east of the Roman town. They gave it a new cloister and a romanesque nave for the cathedral, some ramparts to protect the three areas of the town : the bourg Saint-Sauveur, the countal town and the town of "des Tours" which developed "extra-muros" around Notre-Dame de la Seds.
Between 1138 and 1192, the Hospital workers from Saint-Jean de Jerusalem installed their monastery outside the town, on the way to Italy. This is where one of the last sovereign counts of the House of Barcelone, Alphonse II and Raymond-Bérenger V chose as their burial place. Becoming too small, the chapel was rebuilt following Beatrice's wish, countess of Provence, daughter of Raymond Bérenger-V and wife of Charles I d'Anjou. Thus, the first Aixois gothic edifice was built under the rule of the first Angevin Count of Provence, brother of the king of France, Saint Louis. In the XIV century, Aix had a new decline with the 100 years war, the black plague (1348) and the succession wars of Queen Jeanne. The Tourreluque still standing in the Thermes' garden took part in the active defence of the Provençal Capital. The town of towers, deserted, would not resist its besiegers.
It was in this context that the second Angevine Dynasty settled down in Provence. Louis I d'Anjou, brother of the King of France, Charles V, then his widow, Marie de Blois affirmed their authority and restored calm to the city. In 1409, the new Count, Louis II founded the University
Then comes the rule of René. The last Count of Provence, protector of the Arts, stayed regularly in his provençal capital. He embellished the Count's castle, finished the construction of the Cathedral, made plans for the first big town planning construction. Aix became, unlike Avignon, an important center of artistic creation where the scultor Jean Guiramand (doors of the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral) and the painter Nicolas Froment worked (Triptyque du Buisson Ardent, in the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral) worked. In 1481, after the short rule of Charles III du Maine, Provence became French. The Parliament of Provence, sovereign court of justice, created in 1501 by Louis XII, wanted to defend the provencaux privileges in opposition to the center politics of the Kings of France.
The XVI century is deeply marked by the Imperial Wars (1524-1529-1536), the Religious Wars (1545 - Edit de Mérindol) and the war by the Ligue. In 1593, Aix, having chosen the Ligue side, was besieged by the Duke of Epernon. A rebel town, opposed to the politics followed by Richelieu then by Mazarin, Aix would become a courtesan town with the arrival of the new governor of Provence, Louis de Mercoeur, Duke of Vendôme (1653) and following the stays of Louis XIII (1622) and of Louis XIV (1660) within its walls.
The XVII century marked out the apogee of the provençal capital, governors' center. The town was growing up with the creation of new areas : Villeneuve (1583), Villeverte (1605), Mazarin (1646) and flourishedwith the construction of religious edifices (Baroque nave of the Saint-Sauveur Cathedrale, Jesuits, Visitandines, Ursulines), mansions and "madness" (Pavillon de Vendôme, Hôtel de Forbin, Hôtel de Boisgelin, Hôtel Boyer d'Eguilles, Hôtel Maurel de Pontevès) or public monuments (Halle aux Grains, City Hall). Between the old town and the new area Mazarin , the Coach Court, fit out between 1649 and 1651 asserts itself as the window of the elegance of Aix. The springs in each place became part of the urban scenery. A Fountain decorated with four dolphins and covered with an obelisk, one which "sings" at the heart of the Mazarin area, is the symbol of the way of life of Aix.
The XVIII century carries on the embellishment work of the town, called the "little Versailles". We built the last mansions of the yard : the mansions from the Mazarin and the old town's areas are changed to follow the fashion of the moment. To the baroque straight lines, the architects prefered the curved lines, symbol of grace and femininity. The opened Albertas Place facing the Mansion of the Marquis, President of the Accounts Court, is a perfect illustration of this.
Nevertheless, this harmony is shaken : in 1748 makers of "limonade"(lemonade) suggest opening a café in the yard. The nobility protest : they want to disfigure their walk; the town council decides : "on the court, there only will be cafés and no other artisanal shops". We also leave behind old monarchical symbols. Ten years will be necessary to demolish the palace of the provencaux counts, on the pretext of its delapidation. In 1786, the architect Ledoux plans to build the new Law Courts in the place of the Palace. The Revolution will stop the construction
Mirabeau excluded by nobility was elected as candidate for the third estate of the General Estates of 1789. After the abolition of privileges, Aix lost its part as regional capital and became, in 1800, subprefecture of the Department of the Bouches-du-Rhône (mouths of the Rhône). The "beautiful" will fall into a sleep hardly disturbed by the edification of the Roi René fountain, on top of the Cours (1823) and of the "Rotonde Spring", at the bottom of the Cours (1860) and by the completion of the Law Courts (1831).
If Aix missed the Industrial Revolution, it nevertheless maintained its cultural and academic part with the installation of the Universities of Law (1806) and Arts (1846), the boys and girls schools of Education and the National School of Arts and Trade (1843) and other institutions which, today, bring together about 40,000 students. In 1839 one of its most famous children was born, the painter Paul Cézanne. Aix adopted in its womb the young Emile Zola who extracted from his memory of Aix, the scenario of Plassans, cradle of the Rougon-Macquart. The XX century was marked by a massive demographic growth : 54.000 inhabitants in 1954, nearly 135.000 in 1999, which goes with the creation of new areas : ZUP d'Encagnane, ZAC du Jas de Bouffan and the beginning of the biggest construction site Aix has everknown : Sextius-Mirabeau. With the installation of the Court of Appeal in metal and glass architecture, right in the middle of the old jail, the ex-parliamentary town confirms its vocation to be a legal center. To celebrate the jubilee of its Lyric Art Festival, Aix offers to worldwide music lovers, a prestigious setting, completely renovated : the baroque palace of its Archbishops. It also participates in the developing of the Cézannien sites.
Aix is incontestably a cultural capital. The "Cité du Livre, l'Oustau de Prouvenço, le Ballet Preljocaj, the theatre of the Jeu de Paume", restored, represent the main finials. At last, at the edge of the third millenium, the "awakened beauty" proves its talent by being one the first towns of France for economic growth.
