Marseille (France) > Reviews > Marseilles, my town...

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Advantages:	beautiful, and full of history .  .  .
Disadvantages:	the sun  !  !  !  which is always shining  !  !  !

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yes

Full review

Hello everybody !
Today, I'll try to perfect my english, because as I write in my personality, I'm a french student in Telecommunication and Networks... Well, I'll deal with Marseille, which is My Town... I'll try to present a fex monuments of my town.

oo0oo NOTRE DAME DE LA GARDE oo0oo

In the past, the La Garde hill was devoted to three functions : a look-out post (observation), a fortified castle (defense), and a basilica (cult). The Romanesque-Byzantine style religious building was erected between 1853 and 1864. THE SAINT VICTOR ABBEY (Open every day from 08.00 to 12.00 a.m. and from 02.00 to 06.00 p.m.)
Marseille introduced monastic order in Provence. The crypts conserve highly valuable archeological evidence which attest to the presence of a quarry, exploited in the Greek era, followed by a Hellenistic necropolis of which the function continued in the Christian era.
After dark periods and barbaric invasions, monastic life was reborn in 977. The major altar of the first upper church was consecrated in 1040. By the end of the 13th century, the abbey was entirely reconstructed in the Romanesque style.

THE MUSEUM OF MEDITERRANEAN ARCHEOLOGY --> LA VIEILLE CHARITE

In order to apply a royal edict on "the locking up of the poor and the beggar", a charity was founded. "Pierre Puget", architect of the king, started the construction of his most beautiful achievement in 1671. The Vieille Charité was built of pink and white stone. It consists of four wings, closed on the outside and opening on a rectangular courtyard with galleries on three levels. In the centre of the courtyard there is a chapel with an oval dome, a fine example of Italian baroque. The present facade dates from 1863. Today, the Vieille Charité has become a pluridisciplinary science and arts centre. It houses INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel), Maison de l'Image, Ecole des Hautes Etues en Sciences Sociales, Institut Méditerranéen de Recherche et de Création, a documentation centre of the CNRS, the Museum of Mediterranean Archeology, and the Direction of the Museums of Marseille which organize large exhibitions here.

Well, I hope this "op" has enjoyed you to go to "Mars"... "Au revoir"

;-)