Marseille - Paris Study Tour | College Study Abroad

FALL '18 BLOCK III - MARSEILLE

Founded by the Greeks around 600 BCE, Marseille is known to be the oldest city of France. For many years, the busy port suffered from a negative image and could not bear comparison with cities in the south of France such as Cannes, Nice, and Aix-en-Provence in the eyes of visitors. Today, Marseille is a dynamic, edgy, bustling city, the second most populated in France with 852,516 residents. The European Capital of Culture in 2013, the city has sparkled with a new sense of optimism and self-confidence. The heart of the city is the vibrant Vieux Port. Just uphill is the neighborhood of Le Panier, the oldest section of the city. Also worth exploring are the République quarter, with its stylish boutiques and Haussmannian-type buildings, and the Joliette area, with Marseille’s famous striped Cathédrale de la Major as its center.

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The museum of Mediterranean and European civilizations brings together objects from all fields of human activity (art, industry, science, popular culture, politics…) in its permanent collections as well as thematic exhibitions. In just a few years, its building—a cube of dark concrete mesh—has become a familiar landmark in the landscape of Marseille’s Old Port.