During the Revolution the people rose against the ruling aris tocracy. In the Terror they rebelled against the Convention, but were promptly subdued. The wars of the empire, by dealing a blow to their maritime commerce, excited the hatred of the in habitants against Napoleon, and they hailed the return of the Bourbons and the defeat of Waterloo. The prosperity of the city received a considerable impulse from the conquest of Algeria and from the opening of the Suez canal. During the World War part of the harbour became a British base, and many Indian, Australian, and African troops passed through, and, after the armistice, an American embarkation camp was established.
The old town of Marseilles is bounded west by the Joliette basin and the sea, east by the Cours Belsunce, south by the north ern quay of the old port, and north by the Boulevard des Dames. It consists of a labyrinth of steep, dark and narrow streets inhab ited by a seafaring population. The entrance to the old harbour is defended by Fort St. Jean on the north and Fort St. Nicolas on the south. Behind the latter is the Anse (Creek) de la Reserve. Beyond this again, situated in succession along the shore, come the Chateau du Pharo, given by the empress Eugenie to the town, the Anse du Pharo, the military exercising ground, and the Anse des Catalans. The harbour is deep enough for the largest vessels, and is being enlarged at the northern end, and a canal has been constructed to join the Rhone for inland traffic. A small port has been built at its opening into the Gulf of L'Estaque; land has been assigned for industrial development, and industrial suburbs are arising along the bank of the canal where, protected by embankments, it runs along the coast and reaches the Lave by a tunnel 7,00o metres long. A new port is being constructed
at Etang de Berre. It is hoped that improved navigation on the Rhone, and the extension of the port to include the lake of Caronte, will bring a large influx of trade to Marseilles.
In the roads to the south-west of the port lie the islands of Ratonneau and Pomegue, united by a jetty forming a quarantine port. Between them and the mainland is the islet of Chateau dif, in which the scene of part of Dumas' Monte Cristo is laid. Marseilles possesses few remains of either the Greek or Roman periods of occupation, and is poor in mediaeval buildings. The old cathedral of la Major (Sainte-Marie-Majeure), dating chiefly from the i 2th century and built on the ruins of a temple of Diana, is in bad preservation. The chapel of St. Lazare (late i5th century) in the left aisle is early Renaissance. Beside this church and alongside the Joliette basin is the modern church begun in 1852, which has taken the place of the old Cathedral. It is a Byzantine basilica, in the form of a Latin cross, 46o ft. long built in green Florentine stone blended with white stone from the neighbourhood of Arles. The four towers which surmount it are roofed with cupolas. Near the cathedral stands the bishop's palace, and the Place de la Major. The celebrated Notre-Dame de la Garde, the steeple of which is surmounted by a gilded statue of the Virgin, 3o ft. in height, rises i so ft. above the summit of the hill on which it stands. The present chapel is modern and occupies the site of one built in 1214.
On the south side of the old harbour near the Fort St. Nicolas stands the church of St. Victor, built in the 13th century and once attached to an abbey founded early in the 4th century. With its lofty crenellated walls and square towers built of large blocks of uncemented stone, it resembles a fortress. St. Victor is built above crypts dating mainly from the 1 i th century but also em bodying architecture of the Carolingian period and of the early centuries of the Christian era. Tradition relates that St. Lazarus inhabited the catacombs under St. Victor; and the black image of the Virgin, still preserved there, is popularly attributed to St. Luke. The spire, which is the only relic of the ancient church of Accoules, marks the centre of Old Marseilles. Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel, also in the old town, occupies the place of what was the citadel of the Massaliots when they were besieged by Julius Caesar.