Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cassis
Cassis coat of arms
Cassis (France)
Cassis
region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Department Bouches-du-Rhône
Arrondissement Marseille
Canton La Ciotat
Community association Métropole d'Aix-Marseille-Provence
Coordinates 43 ° 13 '  N , 5 ° 32'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 13 '  N , 5 ° 32'  E
height 0-385 m
surface 26.87 km 2
Residents 7,149 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 266 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 13260
INSEE code 13022
Website www.cassis.fr

Cassis is a French municipality with 7149 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the Bouches-du-Rhône  (13) in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur . It belongs to the arrondissement of Marseille and the canton of La Ciotat .

geography

location

The small town is located on the Mediterranean Sea in a bay on the Calanque coast between Marseille (30 km) and Toulon (42 km).

traffic

Cap Canaille

From Marseille, the D 559 departmental road leads over the Col de la Gineste pass to Cassis. A smaller mountain road, the Route des Crêtes , opened in 1969 , continues along the steep coast to La Ciotat . From this panoramic road you have a wide view of the sea. The most famous rock on the way is Cap Canaille .

Further inland, the A 50 motorway passes Cassis. The motorway connection is about five kilometers from the town center.

Cassis also has a station for the French national railway SNCF on the Marseille – Ventimiglia line . However, the station is only served by local trains, but not by the high-speed trains ( TGV ) that also use this route . There is a shuttle bus connection from the train station to the town center with a journey time of around 15 minutes.

The port of Cassis is not served by scheduled ships. It is used by private boats, small fishing boats and excursion boats to the Calanques . Another port for 500 boats is in Port-Miou .

Climate and vegetation

The annual sunshine duration is approx. 3,000 hours and the amount of precipitation approx. 600 millimeters per year. The ground is very dry , especially when the mistral is blowing. The landscape around the place is characterized by vines, but mainly by the evergreen, secondary shrub formation of the garrigue , as a forest fire on August 21, 1990 destroyed around 3,500 hectares of forest. The remaining vegetation is particularly adapted to the salty or dry and hot environment. You will mainly find bush vegetation consisting of Kermes oaks, rosemary, rock pear ( Amelanchier ) and viburnum (laurel-leaved viburnum , Laurier tin, Viburnum tinus ) and occasionally holm oaks and various pines.

history

Place Baragnon

The first evidence of human settlement goes back to the 5th century BC. BC back. The bay was probably also inhabited in Greek times. In the Roman Empire the area belonged to the province of Gallia Narbonensis . Cassis is also mentioned as Carsici on the Itinerarium Antonini of the 3rd century. The village is believed to have shared the political fate of southern Provence for at least 1,200 years .

In the Middle Ages, Cassis was on an elevated point that is now called a château (castle). Due to barbarian invasions, the population fled to this elevated point. This settlement was incorporated into the Baux-de-Provence rule in 1223 . In the 15th century, after the Baux family died out, Cassis came to the county of Provence , before becoming French in 1481 after the death of Count René of Anjou and his childless heirs. King Louis XI. gave Cassis as a fief to the bishops of Marseilles . They ruled Cassis until the French Revolution .

The present old town was built on the harbor in the 18th century and the fortified settlement on the hill was gradually abandoned. The devastating plague epidemic of 1720 is still commemorated every year today. In February 1794 General Bonaparte stayed overnight in Cassis on an inspection tour.

In the 19th century, some small industrial companies settled there, especially those in the quarry and cement industries . Today the place hardly has any noteworthy industrial operations since a safe factory was relocated to Eastern Europe in 2006.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2016
Residents 3611 4852 5831 6304 7967 8011 7766 7162
Sources: Cassini and INSEE

Attractions

and display information about the image
Chateau de Cassis, southeast near the port (50 m above sea level)
Lighthouse in front of Cassis
Central Place Georges Clemenceau, in the background raised the 14th century château
Aerial view of Cassis
  • Castle ( château ): Fortified place from the 14th century, dilapidated in the 19th century, today converted into luxury holiday apartments. Today the site is privately owned and cannot be visited.
  • Town hall ( hôtel de ville ): 16th century building with large staircase and salon d'honneur (hall of honor). Remnants of a kitchen from the Middle Ages.
  • Saint-Michel church: built between 1859 and 1867 from Cassis stone in neo-Romanesque style with three naves .
  • La Prud'homie : Fisheries court established in 1791. In a niche is the statue of St. Peter , which is carried through the streets of Cassis in the annual procession of the fête des pêcheurs .
  • Maison de l'Europe : 17th century building with a classicist facade from 1808. Monumental, listed staircase.
  • Villa Ariane : Elegant 19th century property with a Greek-style garden and a small amphitheater . From the late 1920s in the possession of the painter, actor and patron Jerome Hill , after his death property of the Camargo Foundation .

Community partnerships

Cassis maintains partnerships with:

Events

  • Another important festival in the annual calendar is the fishermen's festival, also known as the Fête de la Saint-Pierre et de la Mer . It takes place at the end of June. The winegrowers festival is celebrated on the first Sunday in September.
  • A vegetable market is held twice a week on Place Baragnon.
  • Since 1979, on the last Sunday in October, Cassis has been the destination of Marseille - Cassis , one of the most popular street and street races in France.

economy

Quarries

The light limestone of Cassis was already mined in antiquity. In 1720 dismantling began again. The stone from Cassis was popular for two reasons: on the one hand, it is quite resistant to weather conditions, on the other hand, it was relatively inexpensive to transport from the quarries by the sea by ship. Cassis stones were used to build the ports of Marseille and Alexandria . The last quarries were closed in the 1980s.

fishing

The fishery is insignificant today; only half a dozen professional fishermen go out to sea. However, until the advent of tourism, fishing was one of the main sources of income for Cassis. The catch of the day is still sold in the port every day. There is also the statue of the little anchovy fisherman Calendal based on a motif by the poet Frédéric Mistral .
As in many small ports on the Mediterranean, the yachts and sailing boats are pushing the small fishing boats back in Cassis - higher berth fees combined with water sports tourism are also a source of income for the municipality.

Wine region

Cassis entrance

Viticulture can be traced in Cassis since at least the 12th century. After all the vines died due to the phylloxera disaster at the end of the 19th century , viticulture has only been cultivated to a significant extent since the middle of the 20th century.

The 196 hectare wine-growing region of Cassis has had the status of an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) since May 15, 1936 . The wine is pressed on twelve domains. The locations face south. Both white wine (approx. 80%), red wine (approx. 15%) and rosé wine (approx. 5%) are produced.

tourism

Calanques

Today, Cassis lives mainly from tourism, which has gradually replaced industry and commerce since the second half of the 20th century. There are a good dozen hotels, only a few larger ones, all of which blend in with the townscape relatively discreetly. Five bed and breakfasts and a large number of holiday apartments also offer accommodation. There is a youth hostel around 3 km from the village . There is also a campsite.

Cassis has a museum ( Musée municipal méditerranéen d'art et traditions populaires ), a casino ( casino ) and numerous art galleries .

During the summer months, boats leave Cassis several times an hour for sightseeing trips to the Calanques. The three closest calanques of Port-Miou , Port-Pin and En-Vau are most frequently visited . But Cassis is also famous for diving holidays, as the water in the Calanques is very clear. Two public monitored beaches ( Plage de la Grande Mer and Plage du Bestouan ) invite you to swim ; But you can also swim in three other unsupervised bays or even on the cliffs.

In autumn and spring, the hiking trails around the Calanques are accessible. They usually have to be closed in summer due to the risk of forest fires. The Sentier du Petit Prince educational trail on the peninsula towards Port-Miou, which was created in memory of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , is always open . The writer and pilot was shot down over the open sea between Cassis and Marseille in 1944. The aircraft wreck was located near the Île de Riou in 2000 and recovered in autumn 2003.

coat of arms

Description of the coat of arms : The coat of arms of Cassis shows the staff of the Bishop of Marseille in gold, flanked by two white fish on a blue background. The crosier refers to the centuries-long rule of the bishops over the area, the fish to the former importance of fishing, and the blue bottom symbolizes the sea.

Personalities

literature

Web links

Commons : Cassis  - collection of images, videos and audio files