Aix-en-Provence

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Aix is a beautiful, peaceful and historic college town of some 150,000 in southern France that I have visited twice. Please note that the first word is pronounced like the English single letter “x” and the final phoneme is pronounced like a nasalized "aw" .

Founded by the Romans in 123 BC, Aix was fought over for centuries by barbarians, Saracens, knights, and others. By the 13^th century the first university was founded and Aix became a peaceful centre for the Arts and for scholarship. It prospered under a series of rulers, the final and best known being “Good King René” (1409-1480). After his death and its subsequent amalgamation with France, Provence continued to prosper, and fine palaces, squares and fountains were built in Aix. After the French Revolution it entered into a long quiet period during which it was sustained by three main activities – agriculture, education, and justice, until it was discovered by painters and writers. The most famous of its many artists was Paul Cezanne, who is honoured everywhere throughout the city.

The city has two main parts, separated by the elegant Cours Mirabeau avenue. On the north side is the older historic part – cathedral, City Hall, Roman artifacts, Market, small shops, etc., originally encircled by walls. On the south side we find mostly fine houses and the universities. Today Aix and nearby Marseilles jointly operate the 40,000 student “Université d’Aix-Marseille, internationally famous for language training and other cultural activities. Everywhere there are fountains, both elaborate and humble, which give it the nickname “city of 1,000 fountains”. For more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aix-en-Provence .

If you visit the French Riviera, by all means don’t fail to take the side-trip to Aix. And remember that you can enlarge any of my photos by just clicking on it.

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Comments

[angie]

it looks like such a wonderful place to visit. I hope to one day! Thanks for blogging about Aix-en-Provence

[Rainyb]

Fantastic fountain! Great nightshot. The daytime shot is wonderful too!