Cassis

For other uses, see Cassis (disambiguation).
Cassis

Cassis from the Route des Crêtes, southeast of the town center

Coat of arms
Cassis

Coordinates: 43°13′00″N 5°32′20″E / 43.2167°N 5.5389°E / 43.2167; 5.5389Coordinates: 43°13′00″N 5°32′20″E / 43.2167°N 5.5389°E / 43.2167; 5.5389
Country France
Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department Bouches-du-Rhône
Arrondissement Marseille
Canton Aubagne-Est
Intercommunality Marseille Provence Métropole
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Danièle Milon Vivanti
Area1 26.86 km2 (10.37 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 7,793
 • Density 290/km2 (750/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 13022 / 13260
Elevation 0–416 m (0–1,365 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Cassis (French pronunciation: ​[kasi]; Occitan: Cassís) is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France.

It is a popular tourist destination,[1] famous for its cliffs (falaises) and the sheltered inlets called calanques. The wines of Cassis are white and rosé, and not to be confused with crème de cassis, a specialty of Burgundy which takes its name from blackcurrants (cassis), not the commune.

Geography

Calanque de Port-Miou
Port-Miou calanque in Cassis
View of Cassis

The town is situated on the Mediterranean coast, about 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) east of Marseille. Cap Canaille 394 metres (1,293 feet), between Cassis and La Ciotat ("the civitas") is one of the highest maritime bluffs in Europe, a sailor's landmark for millennia. It is east of Marseille and in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône. One of its main beach, called "Bestouan" is made cooler by a karstic source.

History

The site where Cassis now sits was first occupied between 500 and 600 BC by the Ligures, who constructed a fortified habitation at the top of the Baou Redon. These people lived by fishing, hunting, and by farming.

The link with Massilia (Marseille), a city founded by the Phoceans,(Greek: Φώκαια), means that the current site of Cassis could have been inhabited by the Greeks, though no proof has yet been found.

During the Roman times, Cassis was part of the maritime route made by the Emperor Antoninus Pius. At this time, the port advanced right up to Baragnon. It was a small village, established mainly around the Arena and Corton beaches. The principal livelihood was fishing and maritime trade with North Africa and the Middle East. Several archaeological discoveries attest to this.

From the fifth to the tenth century, invasions by foreign tribes led the population to seek refuge in the castrum, a fortified city that, in 1223, became the property of the Seigneurie des Les Baux-de-Provence.

In the fifteenth century, Cassis was ceded to the Counts of Provence, then René of Anjou gave the town to the Bishops of Marseille, who ruled the town until the Revolution of 1789.

Industrial Revolution

In the eighteenth century, Cassis started to develop outside the ramparts of the fortified city and around the port. After the Bourbon Restoration, new industries developed here, including the drying of cod, the manufacture of olive oil and clothing, coral work, wine-making and the exploitation of local stone (cement, limestone). Stone of Cassis, which was quarried here since antiquity made the town famous. It has been used for the quays of the large Mediterranean ports (Alexandria, Algiers, Piraeus, Marseille, and Port Said. A claim that it was used for the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York City gained wide circulation but has been proved apocryphal.[2] Today, the stone is used more for domestic purposes such as the construction of sinks and fireplaces.[3]

In the twentieth century, as these industries began to disappear, the workforce turned to tourism and wine making. Cassis was one of the first three vineyards to profit from the appellation d'origine contrôlée (label of controlled origin) introduced in 1936.

Twin towns – sister cities

Cassis is twinned with:

Notable residents

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
17932,300—    
18001,878−18.3%
18062,065+10.0%
18211,846−10.6%
18312,050+11.1%
18362,065+0.7%
18412,093+1.4%
18462,069−1.1%
18512,080+0.5%
18562,187+5.1%
18612,038−6.8%
18661,975−3.1%
18721,806−8.6%
18761,809+0.2%
18811,907+5.4%
18861,879−1.5%
18911,974+5.1%
18961,956−0.9%
19011,972+0.8%
19061,980+0.4%
19111,990+0.5%
19212,193+10.2%
19262,354+7.3%
19312,434+3.4%
19362,528+3.9%
19462,769+9.5%
19543,152+13.8%
19623,611+14.6%
19684,852+34.4%
19755,831+20.2%
19826,304+8.1%
19907,967+26.4%
19998,001+0.4%
20087,793−2.6%
Francis Picabia and friends at an outdoor café in Cassis 
A quay in Cassis 
Place Georges Clemenceau and château 

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cu a vist París, e non Cassís, a ren vist!", "Who has seen Paris and not Cassis, has seen nothing!"
  2. ↑ Harrell, Annelore (9 November 2011). "Foundation of our Statue of Liberty made from stone from Cassis". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 20 January 2016
  3. ↑ Auzias, Dominique and Labourdette, Jean-Paul (2011). Provence , p. 259. Petit Futé. ISBN 2746930498
  4. ↑ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-11.
  5. ↑ Michaud, L. G.; Michaud, J. Fr., eds. (1843). "Barthélemy, Jean-Jacques". Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne. tome III (nouvelle ed.). Paris: A. T. Desplaces. pp. 179–181.
  6. ↑ Mirval, José (6 September 1980). "Artistes qui ont disparus!", p. 1. Sisteron-Journal. Retrieved via the Médiathèque of the City of Sisteron 20 January 2016 (French).
  7. ↑ Archives de France. Commémorations nationales 2005: René Leriche. Retrieved 20 January 2016 (French).
  8. ↑ Lanie Goodman (17 September 2012). "Ground Breaker", The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Maggio, Patrice (22 January 2012). "Teisseire: Le rois du sport, du politque, e du poker". Nice-Matin (re-printed in the Bulletin of the Association Généalogique des Alpes Maritimes, 1er trimestre 2012, p. 7). Retrieved 20 January 2016 (French).
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