MARSEILLES, miir-salz' (Fr. MAR SEILLE, raiir'sft'y'). The principal seaport of France, the second city of the Republic in point of population; capital of the Department of Bouches-du-Illirme, and an important military and naval station. It is on the eastern shore of an inlet of the Gulf of Lyons, 25 miles east of the principal mouth of the Rhone, and 510 miles by rail southeast of Paris; latitude 43' 17' N.. longi tude 23' E. (Slap: France, AI 8). Its location is picturesque, the ground rising on all sides in an amphitheatre of wood-crowned hills 1200 to 1800 feet high, which terminate in a steep promontory a few miles south of the city. The immediate surroundings were formerly arid. but since the completion of the canal bringing the waters of the Durance to the city the adjoining- district has been irrigated and is now covered with gardens.
Few European cities have shown such rapid modern development. A century ago the town was a cluster of narrow, crooked streets grouped around the cove which formed the old harbor. Several large avenues now traverse this old por tion, while practically the whole city is laid out with broad and straight streets, and generally presents a modern aspect. The city is dominated by the hill of Notre Dame de in Garde. which rises to a height of 480 feet on the southwest, be tween the town and the shore. This hill is en circled on the water side by a picturesque road, the Chemin de la Cot-niche, which leads south ward along the shore of the gulf. There is a citadel on a promontory guarding the nar row entrance to the old harbor, which as a land-locked cove reaches into the heart of the city. The harbor is also defended by the forti fied islands of Ratonneau and Poini.gue. and the Chateau d'If, the latter a former State prison immortalized by Dumas in his Monte Cristo. Two principal avenues crossing at right angles divide the city into four quarters. One is the Rue Cannebi4're. the principal business street. which begins at the head of the old harbor. and is continued eastward as the Ron/crard Made leine. The other, running north and south. is the hue de Rome, which terminates at the obelisk in the Place Castellani-, whence it is prolonged as the Prado, the principal boulevard of Marseilles,. This is a ma
all episcopal see and its most prominent buiM ing is the new cathedral, which the south ern basin of the new harbor. It is built of Flor ence green stone in the Byzantine style mixed with Romanesque and classic. elements, and is surmounted by live domes. Another church worthy of notice is that of Notre Dame de la Garde, built (1.853-64) on the hill of that name south of the old harbor. Its belfry, surmounted by a eolossal statue of the towers nearly 600 feet above the level of the seas and afford; a splendid view of the city and the surrounding country. Among secular buildings should be mentioned the Palais he Longehamp. a magnifi cent Renaissance building containing various museums. the Palais de dustives and the Ex dump). The educational institutions of the city include a school of medicine and a faculty of sciences, two lyei.e..; (high schools), one for boys and one for girls, two seminaries, a commercial high school, a school of line arts.. conservatory of music, an astronomic-al observatory, botanical and zoological gardens, a biological laboratory, museums of art, areffieolooy, and natural history, and a municipal library of 100.1)00 volumes. Be sides these there are a number of scientific and literary societies. The public work= of the city are in excellent condition. The water supply is derived from the !hive'. Dimino- through the Canal de Marseille, which delivers water at the rate of 9000 liter; per second. sufficient both for the use of the city and for the irrigation of the surrounding country. An extensive system of
drainage works was completed in 1898, by which the sewage is carried miles to sea. leaving the waters of the harbor uneontaminatedy The prin cipal industry of Marseilles is the manufacture of soap, which gives employment to over 5000 persons in 80 factories. whose products amount to 100,000.000 kg. annually, or half the quan tity produced by the whole of France. Next in importance are sugar refineries, prodneing 100, 0011 tons annually, oil factories, flour mills, tan neries, lead, tin. and copper plants. petroleum refineries. and the iimnufaeture of candles. maca roni, and tiles and brick. It also has iron ship building and naval equipment yards. The great development of Marseilles, however. is due chiefly to its eommeree, which was greatly enhanced by the op-nine of the Suez Canal. The new harbor, beoun in 1811, consists of a series of basins stretching northward from the entrance of the old harbor. An auxiliary harbor has been ronstructed in the channel between the two islets of and Ratonneau lying off the promontory south of the city. Here are estab lished the quarantine and the marine hospital. There are alti)gether 12 miles of quays. aecom modating 2500 vessel; it ()UP time. In 1902 the chamber ?if Commerce voted 91.1011.000 francs for building a ship canal between the harbor and the mouth 14 the ,Rlione, and a canal is also projeeted between the Rhone and the Loire, thus bringing Marseilles into with Nm.th ern Franee. In 1001 the number of ships which entered and cleared was 16,178 with a tonnage of 13,010.81 t, of which only one-half were Freneh. The quantity of merehandist) loaded and dig charred amounted in 1902 to 5.763.533 Ions, the principal exports being cotton and woolen goods, ribbons, silks, sugar, grain, oil, soap, fruits, wine, candles, and bricks; the chief imports were cattle, coffee, raw cotton and silk, hides, and grain. The trade is chiefly with the Mediter ranean countries. The United States is repre sented by a consul.
The population of Marseilles in 1901 was 491, 161. An idea of the growth of the city may be gained from the following figures: 1789. 100,000; 1S51, 193.183; 1866, 300,000; 1891, 403,749. The increase has been due, at least in late years, wholly to immigration, as the vital statistics show the death-rate to be higher than the birth rate. There were in 1900 98,835 foreigners, of whom 91.336 were 'Italians. The distriets around the wharves are frequented by people of all nationalities, and the busy. cosmopolitan air of the city is in marked contrast with the rest of Provence.
Marseilles is popularly supposed to have been flaunted by Greeks from Phoczea. in Asia Minor, but a rclueological discoveries have established the fact that a Pffienician colony preceded the Greek settlement of about lt.e. WM. The Greek colony, called Massilia, soon supplanted the Pine nicinn. and became a flourishing commercial cen tre, a free city. and the mother city of a number of other Greek colonies. It allied itself with Rome during the Punic wars, at which time it was at the zenith of its power. Its schools were preferred to those of Athens for the education of 1Zoman youths. During the civil wars it took the side of _Marius and later of Pompey. Cesar attacked it in B.C. 49 and deprived it of its pow er, and privileges, and from that time its de cadence began, though it still remained for a long time an intellectual centre. In the Middle Age.; it retained to a large degree its inde pendence. It was finally subject to the counts of Provence, and with Provence it was united with the French Crown in 14S1. In 1660 Louis XIV, deprived the city of its privileges. Consult: flood in, Histoire de Marseille (Paris. 1852); de slafislique de Marseille (Marseilles, 1837 et seq.) : :Teissier. Histoire do commerce de 1855-7'1 (Marseilles, 1887).