 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(April 2023) |
The Cours Mirabeau is a wide thoroughfare in Aix-en-Provence, France.
| | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(April 2023) |
The Cours Mirabeau is a wide thoroughfare in Aix-en-Provence, France.
440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in the town. It is lined with many cafés, one of the most famous being Les Deux Garçons and during its history frequented by famous French cultural figures such as Paul Cézanne, Émile Zola and Albert Camus.
The street has wide sidewalks planted with double rows of plane-trees. The Cours Mirabeau is decorated by fountains, the most notable of which is the Fontaine de la Rotonde, a large fountain that makes up a roundabout at one end of the street. The street also divides Aix into two portions, the Quartier Mazarin, or "new town", which extends to the south and west, and the Ville Comtale, or "old town", which lies to the north with its wide but irregular streets and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
From 1646 onwards, rich locals started moving into the Mazarin quarter, built by Michele Mazzarino (1605 - 1648), known as "Michel Mazarin", the Dominican who was appointed Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence in 1645 by Pope Innocent X. Mazzarino had been professor of theology at the College of Saint Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome, and Master of the Sacred Palace under Pope Urban VIII in 1642. Mazzarino was also the brother of Giulio Mazzarino, known as "Jules Mazarin" who served as chief minister under Louis XIV of France. [1]
In 1650, the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence commissioned the building of a thoroughfare for carts where there was a crumbled rampart. [1]
By 1696 four fountains had been built : Fontaine des 9 canons, Fontaine "Moussue, Fontaine du Roi René and, to the west, "les Chevaux-Marins", now vanished.
Whilst he first thought of building a palace there, the Duke of Vendôme came around and decided on the 'wildness of fields'. Instead he commissioned the Pavillon Vendôme, where he died in 1669.
Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a city and commune in southern France, about 30 km (20 mi) north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the subprefecture of the arrondissement of Aix-en-Provence, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The population of Aix-en-Provence is approximately 145,000. Its inhabitants are called Aixois or, less commonly, Aquisextains.
A fountain, from the Latin "fons", meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
The Canton of Aix-en-Provence-I or Aix-en-Provence-Centre is a former canton located within the commune of Aix-en-Provence in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France. It had 41,361 inhabitants (2012). It was created 27 February 2003 by the decree 2003-156 of that date. It was disbanded following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015.
Meyreuil is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France, about 11 km (6.8 mi) from Aix en Provence.
The House of Mancini was the name of one of the oldest families of Roman nobility. Their titles and fiefs were numerous: Duke of Nevers and Donzy, Prince of Vergagne and of the Holy Roman Empire with the treatment of Serene Highness, French Peer, Spanish Grandee, Marquis of Fusignano, Count of Montefortino, Viscount of Clamecy, Baron of Tardello, Tumminii and Ogliastro, Lord of Claye-Souilly, Roman noble and Venetian patrician.
Don Honoré Armand de Villars, 2nd Duke of Villars, Duke and Peer of France, Prince of Martigues, Grandee of Spain, Knight of the Golden Fleece, Viscount of Melun, Marquis of la Melle, Count of Rochemiley, was a French nobleman, soldier and politician.
Fountains in France provided drinking water to the inhabitants of the ancient Roman cities of France, and to French monasteries and villages during the Middle Ages. Later, they were symbols of royal power and grandeur in the gardens of the kings of France. Today, though they no longer provide drinking water, they decorate the squares and parks of French cities and towns.
The quartier Mazarin is a district in the centre of Aix-en-Provence, directly to the south of the cours Mirabeau, the principal boulevard in Aix. On the initiative of Archbishop Michel Mazarin, brother of the Cardinal Jules Mazarin and Archbishop of Aix from 1645-8 and later himself a cardinal, city plans were devised in 1646 by Jean Lombard, director of public works, to extend the city ramparts to the south, incorporating land owned by the Archbishopric of Aix and by the Order of Saint-Jean-de-Malte. Following a grid plan of streets, the quartier contains a large number of hôtels particuliers originally built for the nobility and wealthy merchant class.
Michele Mazzarino, or Mazzarini, also known as Michel Mazarin, was an Italian Cardinal and statesman in the service of France.
Laurent Vallon (1652-1724) was a French architect, mostly active in the Provence. Many of his buildings are now listed as monuments historiques.
Pierre Pavillon (1612–1670) was a French architect and sculptor.
Jean-Claude Rambot (1621–1694) was a French sculptor and architect.
The Hôtel de Gantès is a listed hôtel particulier in Aix-en-Provence. Built in 1660, it was home to a private members' club until the French Revolution of 1789, when two aristocratic members were murdered by revolutionaries. Since the 1840s, it has been home to the world-famous café, Les Deux Garçons, a haunt of artists, writers and celebrities.
The Hôtel de Suffren is a listed hôtel particulier in Aix-en-Provence.
The Fontaine des Neuf-Canons is a listed fountain in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
The Fontaine de la Rotonde is a historic fountain in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
The Fontaine du Roi René is a listed fountain in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
The Hôtel Maurel de Pontevès is a listed hôtel particulier in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
The Hôtel d'Esmivy de Moissac is a listed hôtel particulier in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Aix-en-Provence.
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