Marseilles Attractions

Olympique de Marseille, also known as l'OM, is part of the French Football League, based in Marseille. The club is well supported by fans who regularly fill the stadium, Stade Vélodrome. The stadium seats just over 60,000 spectators and is the largest club football ground in France.

From the Rond-Point the avenue du Prado continues in a southwesterly direction to the shore. On the left is the Parc Borély where the film of the tales of Marcel Pagnol (director Yves Robert, première 1991) was shot and the mansion which was built for a rich merchant called Borély in 1767-1778.

Wrought-iron gates lead in to the formal garden with its twin alleys of plane trees and circular pools.

The broad Avenue du Prado (called the "Prado" for short) in Marseilles, expansively laid out and shaded by plane trees, is the southern continuation of the Rue de Rome and leads to the Rond-Point du Prado. On the left are the Parc Amable Chanot and the exhibition grounds with the Palais des Congrès.

The Marseilles International Documentary Film Festival, also known as "Vue Sur les Docs", takes place in June. The festival began in 1989 and screens approximately 80 films each year.

The redesigned Center de la Bourse in Marseilles (Stock Exchange Center; department store, etc.) gives access to the excavation site where remains of the Greek fortifications of the port of Massalia (third-second century B.C.) were uncovered, and which has been laid out as a park (Jardin des Vestiges) and open-air museum. On the ground floor of the Stock Exchange Center can be seen a collection of the finds, including the hull of a third century Roman ship.

In the Place Jules-Guesde stands the Arc de Triomphe (Triumphal Arch), erected in 1825-32 to commemorate the capture of Fort Trocadéro at Cadiz.

Coming from the harbor, on the left of the Canebière stands the Bourse (Stock Exchange), an impressive building of 1852-60, with the Musée de la Marine de Marseille (marine museum; collection of pictures and other artistic exhibits of the Marseilles Chamber of Trade; many drawings and plans of 17th C ships).

The Societe du Metro de Marseille (SMM), a rubber tired full metro was opened in 1978 and is made up of two lines with 19.5km of track. There are 24 stations. The system has a flat fare structure in which tickets are integrated with bus tickets.

The system serves about 55 million people yearly with a rolling stock of 144 cars in 4 car sets. During peak hours trains run every 3 minutes, off-peak, every 5-10 minutes.

Musee de la Faïence focuses on faience pottery from Marseille and Moustiers. The museum is housed in the Château Pastré, one of the few Provençal country house that remains intact today. Over 1,500 items are on display from the Neolithic period to present day.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Marseilles was opened in 1994. Located in a donated building, the museum features a sculpture garden as well as permanent and temporary exhibits. The permanent collection includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos and installations, with works by Caesar, Ben, Tinguely, Baquié, Basquiat, Orozco, Dieter Roth, Rodney Graham.

The Boulevard Longchamp in Marseilles terminates in a circular open space, where stands the Musée Grobet-Labadié, a mansion with beautiful furniture, given to the town by Madame Grobet. On display are musical instruments, medieval sculpture and tapestries, 18th C furniture and ceramics.

In Marseilles, on a hill to the south of the harbor entrance, below which runs a road tunnel, the Tunnel St Laurent, lies the Parc du Pharo, with the former great castle of the Empress Eugénie (the wife of Napoleon III) and a naval memorial. In summer open-air plays are performed outside the castle. From the park there is an extensive view of the port installations and of the town.

Near the Cathédrale de la Major in Marseilles, the Church of St Lazare, the old cathedral (fourth-12th C), almost disappears. Here in the Chapel of St-Severinus is a reliquary altar; another (of St-Lazarus) is in the left- hand aisle. In the chapel on the left of the fine apse is a Romanesque reliquary of 1122 and an Emtombment of the school of della Robbia.

Marseille's "Sunny Side of the Doc" Film Festival takes place in June.