AIX-EN-PROVENCE, ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND LOVELIEST TOWNS IN FRANCE

One of our all-time favourite towns in France, and certainly our top favourite in Provence, Aix-en-Provence never fails to enchant every time.  We first visited the town back in the 1970s, due its reputation as a great place to explore, but chiefly because of its history, as a town founded by the Romans in the 2^nd century BCE.  We soon discovered for ourselves one of the loveliest towns in the country, with its intact medieval footprint of narrow, pedestrianised streets, Renaissance houses, handsome 18^th century buildings, enticing shops selling great fashion and décor, and a diverse population of university students, every branch of the professions, especially lawyers, and a diverse local population.

Aix was founded in 123 BCE by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus, who gave his name to its hot springs, (The Waters of Sextius), following the destruction of the nearby Gallic oppidum (a fortified Iron Age settlement) at Entremont.  Aix took on the characteristics of a Roman city, and had a forum, a theatre, baths and aqueducts.

The 3^rd century CE was marked by the beginning of the demographic decline of Aquae Sextiae.  During this time it was the capital of the Narbonensis Secunda region, and the city dominated major ancient cities such as Fréjus, Antibes, Riez, Apt, Sisteron, and Gap.

Over the ensuing centuries, Aix was occupied by the Visigoths, Franks, Lombards and Saracens, during which time most of the Roman monuments were destroyed.  By the Middle Ages, Aix was the capital of Provence.  It had reached its zenith by the 12^th century, when, under the houses of Barcelona-Aragon and Anjou, it became an artistic centre and seat of learning.  Traces of its Roman origins are evident throughout the town, and in 2004, the Roman theatre was discovered near Notre-Dame-des-la-Seds on the edge of town, becoming the town’s most famous ancient monument.  More recently, in the Ville des Tours, a medieval-era suburb of Aix, the remains of a Roman amphitheatre have been unearthed, along with a deposit of fossil bones from the Upper Continental Miocene, which are said to have given rise to a Christian dragon legend.

An archbishopric was created in Aix, ensuring its pre-eminent position throughout the Middle Ages, confirmed by the creation of a university in 1409.  Shortly after, along with the rest of Provence, Aix passed to the crown of France in 1487, and in 1501, Louis XII established a parliament of Provence, which existed until 1789.  The building constructed for it is today the Palais de Justice, which I will discuss in greater detail further on.

A walk through Aix is like a trip back in time.  Your steps will lead you to an exceptional architectural and cultural heritage.  It’s easy to see how historically prosperous it was, and still is.  The historic town is mostly pedestrianised, with narrow streets lined in elegant stone buildings.  The main boulevard, Cours Mirabeau, seems to have been designed for the locals to promenade, socialise and show off their prosperity.  It’s often referred to as the “Champs Elysees of Provence”, lined with 17^th and 18^th century mansions, and an avenue of plane trees along both sides of the road is a haven during the heat of a Provençal summer.  The road runs from Place Charles de Gaulle with its Fontaine de la Rotonde, up to the statue of King René at the other end.

Aix was historically called The City of 1,000 Fountains, in recognition of its Roman history relating to water.  The reality is that there are actually around a hundred or so, although I have only managed to track down around 30 of them!  The Cours Mirabeau has one of the most impressive fountains in town, La Rotonde, located on a busy roundabout at one end.  It stands around 12 metres high, with a figure on top facing Cours Mirabeau, representing Justice.  A second female figure faces the direction of Avignon, said to suggest the Fine Arts, while a third figure faces Marseille, signifying Agriculture.  All these are supposed to embody the main business concerns of Aix.

One side of the Cours Mirabeau is mostly offices, official buildings and a cinema, while the opposite side is lined with delightful cafés, tables and chairs spread out on their terraces, that are always full of locals and visitors alike enjoying the constant flow of people passing by.  One of the best-known of these is Café Les Deux Garçons, established in 1792, once the favourite haunt of local Paul Cézanne, and still retains its original décor inside.  The Cézanne family originally had a hat shop next door.  This business was so successful that it became a local bank, then with even greater wealth, Cézanne’s father was able to set up his son to be free to enjoy his increasing artistic pursuits, without the necessity of having to earn a living.

Cézanne studied law at the university, and produced many paintings in and around his home town—although he remained, by and large, rejected by the town, who really did not understand him or his art, chiefly because of his style—he is often referred to as the first “modern” painter.  The local museum, Musée Granet, has some Cézanne paintings, but was mostly spurned by the museum curator during his lifetime.  By the time Cézanne’s work was acknowledged by the wider world as masterpieces, the prices had attained stratospheric heights, and most of his works by then were mostly out of reach of Musée Granet.  Today, it has 10 works by Cézanne, and the city is very keen indeed to exploit any reference it can to the great artist.  However, the museum has a fine collection of other artists’ works well worth a look.

About a half hour walk from the city centre is Atelier Cezanne, the artist’s last studio.  It has been preserved as it was when he died, and is open to the public.  Although there are no paintings here, his tools, personal belongings and props such as porcelain vases, paper and fabric flowers, a small, plaster cupid, make it a worthwhile excursion for enthusiasts.  I have been a number of times since my first visit as a student attending a summer school at the university back in 1989.  It has a very special atmosphere and not to be missed by Cézanne fans.   Ask the local Tourist Office to mark it on your map.

Stroll into the Mazarin Quarter behind the Cours Mirabeau, and you will find streets laid out in a grid plan from the reign of Louis XIV.  Today, it remains a quiet, peaceful, elegant, mostly residential neighbourhood, and also with legal, accounting and medical practices housed discreetly in fine stone buildings.  The Place de Quatre Dauphins (Square of the Four Dolphins) has a fountain inspired by Bernini’s masterpiece in Rome.  It’s one of my favourite fountains in a town with so many.

In the heart of this area at 3, rue Joseph Cabassol, you will find the Hôtel de Caumont, an art centre opened in May 2015 after an extensive renovation, including its lovely courtyard and garden.  It’s housed in one of the finest 18^th century mansions in town built for the Marquis de Cabannes, the President of the Court of Auditors.  It hosts around 3 temporary exhibitions a year dedicated to the great masters of art from the 14^th to 19^th centuries.  The magnificently restored interiors alone are well worth a visit, and it’s open every day.

Crossing Cours Mirabeau will take you back into Aix’s historic town, where the pedestrianised streets hum with activity.  The town’s daily outdoor market at Place Richelme is a classic Provençal scene:  local farmers selling fresh produce under the shade of enormous plane trees.  There has been a market on this square since the 1300s.  At one end of the square are cafés, ideal for savouring the whole market ambience, so take time to pause for a while over a drink and perhaps a snack from the local boulangerie.

Near this square is the Post Office and the Hotel de Ville at Place de l’Hôtel de Ville.  My little flat was down a side street, just a 2 minute walk from here, and I used to pause every morning en route to my class, in order to simply enjoy the scene.  One of the local stallholders used to keep a few things aside for me, such as punnets of berries and local stone fruit to collect at lunchtime, and I’d allow myself an occasional treat of some inexpensive fresh flowers—everything was usually heavily reduced by the end of the morning’s trade.  The first Sunday of the month has an Old Book Fair in the square.  Lots of cafés around this square.

Place de l’Hôtel de Ville has a large stone clocktower at one end that links this square to Saint Sauveur, Aix’s Cathedral.  A narrow, busy street named rue Gaston de Saporta, runs up from the clock tower.  This man was a famous paleobotanist, who contributed a vast amount of knowledge about the transformation of plant species.  He died in Aix in 1895.  This area of town is known as Bourg Saint Sauveur, and occupies the site of the former Roman town.  A number of the narrow streets off this main road have kept their evocative names from the Middle Ages, such as rue du Griffon and rue Esquicho-coudo (“squeeze the elbows” in the Provençal dialect).  The remains of the old medieval ramparts of Aix are still visible on rue des Guerries.

The whole length of rue Gaston de Saporta is lined with handsome stone mansions.  Hotel Estienne de Saint-Jean, at no. 17, is a former private mansion, built in 1671 for the Paymaster-General of France, that now houses the Musée du Vieil Aix (Old Aix Museum) and its collections evoking the traditions of Aix and its region.  It has a beautiful interior, with a splendid staircase that was definitely designed to impress!  There’s a lovely garden, overlooked by a suite of rooms, including a boudoir with a painted cupola held up by moulded figures and five charming little cherubs with flowers.  Listed as a Monument Historique in 1937, this elegant museum is well worth a visit.

Opposite the Musée du Vieil Aix, and up a little on the right is Place des Martyrs de la Resistance.  At the far end of this small, shady square, bordered with the terraces of cafés, is the impressive façade of the former Palais de l’Archevêque, with its heavily sculpted tympanum above its door.  Once occupied by the brother of Cardinal Mazarin, Archbishop Michel Mazarin was very influential in the development of Aix and its surrounding region.  The present-day palace dates from the 17^th century.  It now houses the Musée des Tapisseries (Tapestry Museum) with an impressive collection of works from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, in particular, some exquisite pieces from the Beauvais workshops and a cycle of Don Quixote scenes.  This building is also the ticket office for the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the annual music festival which takes place principally in July, and regarded as one of the most prestigious in the country.

On the left-hand side of this road, walking a little further on from Musee du Vieil Aix, numerous of the fine mansions have long been occupied by faculties of the University of Aix-en-Provence, including the Law Faculty, where Cezanne had been a student, which relocated out to the main campus in 1950, part of the Arts Faculty, housing the Institut d’études françaises pour étudiants étrangers (where I was a student), and the building currently occupied by the Institut d’Études Politiques (usually referred to as Sciences Po).

Further up this road, almost at the end, is one of the landmarks of Aix, the Cathedral of Saint Sauveur, on a site that has been a sacred place for thousands of years, on the road that was called the Via Aurelia in Roman times.  A fragment of a Roman wall and the columns of the baptistery suggest that the cathedral was built on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo.

There were several interruptions during the cathedral’s construction, due to wars, plagues and lack of finance, which explains the combination of different architectural styles which make up the cathedral we see today.  The Romanesque south aisle dates from the 11^th century, while most of the rest of the building is flamboyant Gothic dating from the early 16^th century.  There are touches of 17th century Baroque in the north side aisle, while the baptistery and its 8 columns are from the 5^th or 6^th century, one of the oldest in France.  In 731, the Saracens destroyed the city of Aix as well as the church.  Rebuilding re-commenced in 1057 and dedicated in 1103.  It’s a wonderful building to explore, and do make sure to visit the beautiful cloister.

Just to one side off rue Gaston de Saporta, near the Hotel de Ville, is a large square, Place des Cardeurs.  It opened in 1963 when the municipality demolished a block of decrepit houses.  The square’s boundaries correspond more or less to the former Jewish district of the Middle Ages.  Today, Provençal houses with colourful façades border the square, with a fountain in the middle.  The square is a very popular place full of cafés and restaurants whose terraces cover half the square.  A great place to find a meal.

A block or two from here at 23, rue de la Molle, is arguably the town’s most beautiful mansion, the Pavillon de Vendôme, regarded as one of the finest examples of Neo-Classical architecture in Provence.  With its elegant formal garden, this magnificent home was built in 1665 for Louis de Mercoeur, Duke of Vendome, who had become Governor of Provence in 1652.  There were the usual additions and alterations over the centuries, including the garden.  Today it houses the Dobler Museum, with exhibitions of contemporary art and photography.  It was listed as a Monument Historique in 1914.

Running off Place du General de Gaulle at the Fontaine de la Rotonde, at one end of the Cours Mirabeau, is rue Espariat, a busy shopping street that runs up to Place Saint Honoré.  Walking along this street, on the corner of rue de la Masse, you will see the former cloister of the Augustinians, that features a square tower with an octagonal extra level, all topped with an intricate wrought-iron dome.  This was added in 1667 in order to avoid the strong mistral winds making the bells ring.

A former private Baroque mansion at no. 6 rue Espariat is home to Aix’s Natural History Museum, exhibiting an impressive collection of paleontological, zoological and ethnographic artefacts, and in particular, a unique dinosaur fossil collection from nearby Mont Sainte Victoire.  Almost facing the Natural History Museum lies the elegant Place d’Albertas.  This square is certainly one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in Provence.

At the end of this street, and up any of the side roads to the left, you will come to the Palais de Justice in busy Place de Verdun.  This massive building was once the residence of the Lords of Provence, then the Parliament of Provence and the Court of Auditors. The construction of the handsome Palais de Justice (Law Courts) was first commissioned in 1787, however, due to the Revolution in 1789, construction was discontinued.  Work resumed in 1822 and finally completed in 1831.  It was listed as a Monument Historique in 1979.  Today, it is one of the most important Courts in the region, hence the large number of lawyers and related legal professionals in the town.

The former palace was destroyed at the end of the 18th century and rebuilt between 1825 and 1832.  There are lots of great shopping opportunities in and around this part of town, and you’re sure to find a few goodies you can’t live without, for yourself and take-home gift ideas.

There’s so much more for visitors to explore, for example, the town was also the birthplace of the great French writer, Emile Zola, lifelong friend and school mate of Paul Cezanne.  There is a statue of him in Parc Jourdan, a few blocks from Cours Mirabeau on the southern side of town.  There’s also the Vasarely Foundation on the outskirts of town at 1, avenue Marcel Pagnol.  Home to the artistic conceptions of Victor Vasarely, whose colossal paintings used abstract shapes and bold colours, attracting worldwide attention—and so much more.

This is just a snapshot of the beautiful town of Aix-en-Provence, and be prepared to spend at least a couple of days exploring some of its attractions, and taking up the challenge of locating as many of its fountains as you can!  Getting to Aix is easy, as it’s on a TGV line, just 25 kms from Marseille airport, and numerous bus lines.