Of the civil buildings of the city, the prefecture, one of the finest in France, the Palais de Justice, and the Exchange, all date from the latter half of the 19th century. The Exchange, built at the expense of the Chamber of Commerce, includes the spacious hall of that institution with its mural paintings and gilding. The hatel-de-ville ( I7th century) stands on the northern quay of the old harbour. The Palais Longchamp (1862-1870) is a museum and art gallery. The museum of antiquities, established in the Chateau Borely (1766-1778) includes a Phoenician collection (containing the remains that support the hypothesis of the Phoeni cian origin of Marseilles). The city also has a colonial museum and a laboratory of marine zoology. The triumphal arch of Aix, originally dedicated to the victors of the Trocadero, was in 1830 appropriated to the conquests of the empire.
The canal de Marseille, constructed from 1837 to 1848, which has metamorphosed the town and its arid surroundings by bring ing to them the waters of the Durance, leaves the river opposite Pertuis. It has a length of 97 miles (including its four main branches) of which 13 are underground, and irrigates some 7,500 acres. After crossing the valley of the Arc, between Aix and Rognac, by the magnificent aqueduct of Roquefavour, it purifies its waters, charged with ooze, in the basins of Realtort. It draws about 2,200 gallons of water per second from the Durance, sup plies 2,45o horse-power to works in the vicinity of Marseilles, and ensures a good water-supply and efficient sanitation to the city.
Marseilles is the headquarters of the XV. army corps and the seat of a bishop and a prefect. It has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a chamber of commerce, and a board of trade arbitration. The educational institutions include a faculty of science, a school of medicine and pharmacy, and a faculty (faculty libre) of law, these three forming part of the university of Aix Marseilles and a school of navigation.
from lack of communication with the inland waterways of France. In Jan. 1902 the chamber of deputies voted £3,656,000 for the construction of a canal from Marseilles to the Rhone at Arles. This scheme was designed to overcome the difficulties of egress from the Rhone and to make the city the natural outlet of the rich Rhone basin. Much of the activity of the port is due to the demand for raw material created by the industries of Marseilles itself. The imports include wines, spirits, coal, tallow, copper, iron machinery, metals, cattle, sheep, copra, grain, cotton oil, palm oil, petroleum, oil seeds and nuts, coffee, cotton, hides, rice, maize and sugar. The exports include wines, spirits, liqueurs, tiles, bricks, metals, hides, ochre, oil cakes, soap, refined sugar, olive oil, dried vegetables, and glycerine.
The port is the centre for numerous lines of steamers which ply to the eastern Mediterranean, the east coast of Africa, Aus tralia, India, Indo-China, Algeria, Tunis, Malta, Morocco, Antilles, as well as Great Britain and the French ports on the western coast. In addition many important foreign lines call at the port.
Soap making was introduced in antiquity from Savona and Genoa, and utilizes the products of the oil distilleries and of the chemical works, the latter being also an important adjunct to the manufacture of candles. A large quantity of iron, copper and other ores is smelted in the blast furnaces of Saint Louis and other foundries, and the Mediterranean Engineering Company and other companies have workshops for the construction or repair of marine steam engines, etc. Marseilles has also important oil factories, flour mills, refineries, glassworks, tile works and tobacco factories, as well as the manufacturing of semolina, casks and rope, tanning, distilling, brewing, and State match factories.
Before the World War housing conditions were very bad, and manufacturers in consequence found it difficult to procure labour. During the war there was an influx of workers, and there was considerable industrial development, especially in the provision of foodstuffs and in metal manufacture.