Mediterranean Cruise Day Four: Marseille

On day four we landed in Marseille, France.

Marseille has a beautiful harbor.

There are a number of very old forts to protect the most valuable asset-the harbor. This is Fort St Nicolas, built between 1660-1664 by King Louis XIV. He told his people it was to protect the city, but was actually built to keep the city's inhabitants under control and to stop uprisings. Its guns pointed toward the city, not away from it.

Marseille is the second largest city in France, behind only Paris in population. 

Marseille was and is an important trade center, known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Like most European cities, modern Marseille is a mix of old and modern buildings.

None of the ship's excursions appealed to us, but Ken found a private tour guide for the day. Of course, you can never see everything in a large foreign city in 6 or so hours, but our guide Fred took as to several interesting stops.

A random tower in Marseille I can't identify.

Our guide took us to St. Victor Abbey, Local tradition says originally it was two monasteries, one for women, one for men, dating back to 415.  It was named for Victor of Marseilees, a local soldier/saint who was martyred for denouncing the worship of idols in 290.

The original monastery was destroyed by 838 or earlier, and all of the nuns (about 40 of them) were martyred. No word on what happened to the monks.

The nunnery was never rebuilt; the monastery started back up around 977.  It was enlarged over many years, and became a place to collect important religious artifacts. The stained glass was all replaced after WW II when the original glass was destroyed.

The Abbey continued to be an influential religious center until the late 1500's when its library of ancient and significant books and manuscripts were broken up and dispensed to various locations. This is the 17th century pipe organ.

Pope Clement XII decreed the dissolution of the Abbey in 1739 and in 1794 it was stripped of its treasures.  

Relics were burned, gold and silver treasures were melted down to make coins, and the Abbey became a warehouse, prison, and finally, barracks.

In the 19th century the Abbey was restored and is currently used for worship.

Underneath the Abbey is a Crypt. Originally a quarry, it became a Christian burial ground in the mid 5th century. Some of the cravings on the sarcophagi have been dated to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD.

By the late fifth century, the cemetery began to fill up and spread around the Abbey.

The crypt was impressively dark, damp, and spooky with dozens of craved limestone sarcophagi.

This part of the Abbey was heavily restored in the 13th century, preserving it for future generations.

This is the short end of the sarcophagus depicting the apostles. The setting is the city gate, and it dates to the 4th century. A drawing was made of it in the 17th century when it was more complete and appears to be a scene of Christ giving the law to Peter.

This is the long side of the same sarcophagus depicting scenes from the life of Paul.

More sarcophagi, this one set into 

and elaborate stone structure.

I suspect this star marks the remains of someone important, but there was no explanation attached.

Detail of sarcophagus.

I wish my Italian was better. Actually I wish it wasn't nonexistent. The limited signage was sometimes translated, sometimes not.

This is the chapel of St Lazarus, an appropriate name for a chapel in a crypt, don't you think?

This chapel was built in the 11th century. 

According to tradition, Lazarus came to Marseille and preached, becoming the first Bishop of Marseille. He was beheaded and the people of Marseille claim they are in possession of his head, which the venerate. 

In addition to all of the sarcophagi, the crypt was full of

bits and pieces of a various final resting spots.

This colorful depiction of the death of Pope Lazarus (around 406) above his sarcophagus reminds us it wasn't always fun to be Christian.

A room full of bits and pieces.

This is a notable sarcophagus because it was reused. Ewww. 

It had these menacing faces craved into the corners of the lid.

Marseille is the oldest city in France.  This painting in the crypt shows how it looked in the fifth century.

We went back upstairs now that services were over, where we saw this altar from the fifth century, taken from the building during the destruction years, but returned in the 1960s.

I rather like this primitive Mary and Jesus.

We left the Abbey, passed by this anchor/cross/heart. thought it was a tribute to the sea, or the local navy, or maybe a symbol of the city. I was surprised to read it's a memorial for two young men who died at sea: military officer Sebastian fell in the sea as his ship was leaving port and was never seen again, and an unrelated man, Francois-Xavier, who disappeared while ski-jetting with his fiancee.  There were fresh flowers on the base and a railing that resembles a ship's railing. I guess they take their deaths at sea pretty seriously around here.

Our next stop was Notre-Dame de la Garde. Built in 1215 on the foundation of an ancient fort on the highest point of the city, it was restored in the fifteenth century. The lower part of the church is Romanesque style and the top is Neo-Byzantine

The Madonna atop the spire is an impressive 37 feet tall, made of copper gilded with gold leaf.

Looking out over the city from the cathedral.

Notre Dame is the best known symbol of Marseille.

Originally this place was the site of many chapels and cemeteries. It became so busy as a pilgrimage destination that the decision was made to build the grand basilica. Work began in 1853 and was completed in 1864.

A nice Mary, Joseph, and Jesus depiction.

The building had an extensive restoration from 2001-2008. Pollution was removed from limestone, and centuries of candle smoke was cleaned from the interior. The building was damaged by bullets in WW II, and most of that destruction was also repaired.

Some of the bullet damage was left, a reminder of the destruction of war.

We've seen many cathedrals with this striped pattern, but few are as clean and bright as the restored Notre Dame.

The first step inside a cathedral is always a moment of anticipation. Will it be ornate? Breathtaking? Stark? Disappointing? 

This cathedral is stunning.

Gold leaf is everywhere.

The details of the ceilings are amazing and

so are the floors.

I craned my neck (and my camera), trying to see every nook and cranny.

The cathedral has a famous statue: The Black Madonna and Child.  The original was melted down during the French Revolution. In 1829, donations allowed work on a replacement begin.  It was created by Jean-Baptiste Chanual who took five years to complete it, due to the delicate gold work.

Incredible, detailed work.

Beautiful door.

Gorgeous stained glass.

I like that so many of the churches in Italy are in use, and that people are actually attending. Quite a contrast to much of Europe, where for all intents and purposes, cathedrals have turned into museums.

I think it would take a week to peek through every arch and door.

The sign on the right translates, "Prayer to our Lady of the Guard". You can see why they may have had to do a major cleaning/restoration due to candle smoke.

Tucked away stained glass.

A reminder that this is a port city.

This cathedral is absolutely beautiful.

A heavily craved window shutter.

Here you can see the original fort the church was built on.

After the Basilica, we headed up to a famous lookout near Cassis, the city across the bay.  

This is a "Calanque", an inlet with very steep cliffs.  It's hard to capture how far above the water we were.  It made my head swim. Ignore those photo bombers on the right. There were a number of tourists also checking out this spot.

Wow! It's a long way down.

Photo bombers are everywhere.

See what I mean? More bombers.

Our guide told us nearly every year there's some numskull who gets to close to the crumbly limestone edge and falls to their death. Behold this year's volunteer numskull.

Later we check out the Mediterranean. Be careful where you look.  This is a nude beach, something we tried to not see in a few areas. 

Shelly and Ken did some swimming here. With swimsuits.

Here's a local who's been getting plenty of dinner.

We stopped for a quick meal that turned into the slowest service ever. We had a few experience with slow food service in this part of the world. We impatient Americans could probably learn a lot about patience. However, today was not the day for lessons. After an hour of waiting or so we had to tell them to deliver or we would need to leave to catch our ride. We ended up nearly running out of time.

Fred, there on the right, took us to our final stop of the day.

We are at Palais Longchamp.

Longchamp was built to celebrate the construction of a canal that brought water to Marseille.

Building commenced in 1839 and took a long, grueling 30 years to complete.

There are art and natural history museums here, as well as a children's park and water features.

It's quite the monument to honor a canal.

The central feature is a statue of three women. The center women represents the Durance River, the source of the canal. The woman on the right represents grapes and wreathes, the woman on the right represents wheat and fertility. They rule their corner of the world on the backs of four bulls.

The art museum, one of the oldest in France was opened in 1801, and built in to the final monument.

These French love their monuments.

The city had a serious cholera outbreak in 1835, which highlighted the need for fresh city water.

The plan to build a canal actually dates back to the 16th century.

The canal needed to be 85 km (52.8 miles), a daunting task in the 16th century.

However, as the city continued to grow and disease continued to increase, a canal became a necessity, not a luxury.

Getting our fitbit steps in for the day.

Despite the ability to build a beautiful building, the plan to dig underground and build 18 aqueducts took a large amount of money and workers.

Looking down from above.

More reminders of the coastal nature of the city.

Max Consolat, the city councilman responsible for getting the canal approved.

Hey Medusa is that you?

Ceiling remodel ideas for home, Stan :)

This looks like an invitation to a headache.

Eternally checking out the blue sky.

Sky checker's hand.

Above the monument was a large park.

It was described as a "botanical garden", but it was a bit neglected.

This is Ernest Reyer, famous French opera composer and music critic.

He's either covering his ears because a) he's listening to really bad music, or b) he's lost his nose and wants to preserve his ears.

His best know opera is about this fellow, Sigurd, based on a Volsunga saga, a story about the rise and fall of the Icelandic Volsunga family.

In the 19th century, this area was a zoo.

The zoo closed when zoos became less politically correct.

There are only a few animals left now.

Unfortunately, the park has become a hangout for drug users.

Finally, it was time to return to our ship. We ate almost every evening in one of the restaurants (instead of buffet). The food was quite good, with great variety and plenty of desserts.

I wish I could remember the names of these dishes, but trust me: they were delicious.

Another wonderful day comes to an end. Can't wait for tomorrow!