La Canebière

The principal traffic artery of the extremely busy inner city of Marseilles is the Canebière (Provençal Canebiero), a broad highway which begins at the harbor. This street, about 1km/0.5mi long, carries a great deal of traffic and is lined with shops and offices. The name is derived from Cannabis (hemp) and means "ropewalk". Fields of hemp could once be seen near the Old Harbor to which the raw material was delivered to the rope-makers.

The former boulevard - it was once compared to the Champs-Elysées - now forms a social and cultural boundary, separating the poor Belsunce quarter in the north from the more affluent southern part of the city. Various redevelopment programs are attempting to ameliorate the situation. Not far to the east of the Stock Exchange the Canebière crosses the broad cours St Louis (on the right) which leads into the rue de Rome and on the left the cours de Belsunce which is continued by the rue d'Aix. This crossing is the intersection of the main roads leading east to west and north to south and is also the southwestern corner of the Arab quarter which extends to the north as far as the Porte d'Aix and the Gare St Charles. About 250m/275yd farther on is the intersection with the Bbulevard Dugommier (to the left) and the boulevard Garibaldi (to the right). At the end of the Canebière stands the neo-Gothic Church of St Vincent-de-Paul.