Aix-en-Provence, France

... More

glittering past. As the home of a famous university and the seat of an archbishop it remains the spiritual center of Provence to this day.

As well as being a spa town and deriving considerable income from tourism, an important part of its economy lies in the preparation of almond-nuts for the confectionery trade; its "Calissons d'Aix", a tangy almond sweet, are famous.

The lightly radioactive hot springs, rich in minerals, were already known in Roman times. Their chief constituents are bicarbonates, calcium, sulfates, silicates, chlorine and magnesium.

Soon after the destruction of the Celtic settlement (121 BC) to the north near Entremont, Aix-en-Provence was founded by Caius Sextus as the first Roman settlement in Gaul and called "Aquae Sextiae Saluviorum". Twenty years later the Roman commander Marius defeated the Teutons near here as they advanced into Italy. Its medicinal springs, which had been known for a long time, and its favorable position from the point of view of communications on the Via Aurelia, led to a rapid development of the new settlement.

After serious setbacks, caused by migrations and attacks by the Saracens, Aix became the capital of the county of Provence and also, especially in the time of the art-lover René of Anjou (1409-80), a cultural center of Provençal poetry. In 1409 the university was founded, and in 1481 the town passed to France. It was badly affected in the Wars of Religion. From 1630 there were violent clashes with Richelieu and Mazarin which could be settled only by the good offices of Michel, the brother of Mazarin and Archbishop of Aix.

An extensive building program in the 17th and 18th century determined the town's architectural image. Count Mirabeau, a lawyer and revolutionary leader (1749-91) and the painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) were born in Aix. In 1958 Picasso lived in the palace at Vauvenargues, where he is also buried.