Marseille

Marseille (Occitan: Marselha) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in Provence, it marks the eastern end of the Côte Bleue on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille is the second-most populous city proper in France, after Paris, with 886,040 inhabitants in 2023 over a municipal territory of 241 km2 (93 sq mi). Together with its suburbs and exurbs, the Marseille metropolitan area, which extends over 3,972 km2 (1,534 sq mi), had a population of 1,917,728 as of 2023. The cities of Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and 90 suburban municipalities have formed since 2016 the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, an indirectly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of wider metropolitan issues, with a population of 1,939,077 as of 2023. The southeast of Marseille is in Calanques National Park, making Marseille the only large city in France to have a national park within city limits. Founded c. 600 BC by Greek settlers, Marseille is the oldest city in France, as well as one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements. It was known to the ancient Greeks as Massalia and to Romans as Massilia. Marseille has been a trading port since ancient times. It experienced a commercial boom during the colonial period and especially in the 19th century, becoming a prosperous industrial and trading city. The Old Port still lies at the heart of the city, where the manufacture of Marseille soap began some six centuries ago. Overlooking the port is the Notre-Dame de la Garde – known as "la Bonne Mère" by the people of Marseille – a Romano-Byzantine church and a symbol of the city. Today, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) and the maritime economy play a major role in regional and national economic activity. Marseille remains the first French port, the...