Vieux-Port de Marseille
Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, FR
The port
At the heart of Marseille, the Vieux-Port welcomes up to 3,200 boats at the foot of the Canebière, between historic forts and lively quays.
The Vieux-Port of Marseille sits at the historic and geographic heart of the city, at the foot of the Canebière, spanning the Hôtel-de-Ville, Opéra, Saint-Victor and Pharo districts. This sheltered bay, located in the Mediterranean cruising area, has long served as the central landmark of the Phocaean city, framed by Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Saint-Nicolas at the entrance to the basin.
As a marina, the Vieux-Port offers around 3,200 berths, making it one of the largest pleasure ports on the French Mediterranean coast. The enclosed and well protected basin welcomes a wide variety of craft, from small cruising sailboats to motor yachts, within an urban setting that is unusual for a marina of this scale.
The immediate surroundings are lively year round: a traditional fish market, restaurant and bar terraces lining the quays, a landing stage for tourist boats to the Frioul islands and the Château d'If, and open views toward the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde basilica overlooking the city. The district blends everyday Marseille life, tourist activity and sailing culture in a bustling Mediterranean atmosphere.
The site has been occupied since antiquity: according to Wikipedia and the Marseille tourist office, Greek settlers from Phocaea are said to have founded the city around 600 BC in a cove then known as Lacydon, which corresponds to today's port. The modern marina thus stands on one of the oldest port sites in France, even though its role has evolved over the centuries toward the pleasure and leisure use it has today.
