Theme Week Marseille – Old Port
2 March 2020 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General Reading Time: 8 minutes The Old Port of Marseille (Vieux-Port de Marseille) is at the end of the Canebière, the major street of Marseille. It has been the natural harbour of the city since antiquity and is now the main popular place in Marseille. It became mainly pedestrian in 2013. In 600 BC, Greek settlers from Phocaea landed in the Lacydon, a rocky Mediterranean cove, now the site of the Old Port of Marseille. They set up a trading post or emporion in the hills on the northern shore. Until the nineteenth century the Old Port remained the centre of maritime activity in Marseille. In the Middle Ages the land at the far end of the port was used to cultivate hemp for the local manufacture of rope for mariners, which is the origin of the name of the main thoroughfare of Marseille, the Canebière. The great St. Victor’s Abbey was gradually built between the third and ninth centuries on the hills to the south of the Old Port, on the site of an Hellenic burial ground. read more…Theme Week Marseille – L’Estaque in Marseille
2 November 2018 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General Reading Time: 5 minutes L’Estaque is a former fishing village, located on the Rade de Marseille, which was incorporated in 1946 as part of the 16th Arrondissements to Marseille. West of L’Estaque begins the Côte Bleue. The hill chain Chaîne de l’Estaque gave the place its name. read more…UEFA Euro 2016 in France: The venues
3 June 2016 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France, Sport Reading Time: 20 minutes
The 2016 UEFA European Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 or simply Euro 2016, will be the 15th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organized by UEFA. It is scheduled to be held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. Spain are two-time defending champions. For the first time, the European Championship final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996. Under this new format, the finalists will contest a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed by a knockout stage including three rounds and the final. 19 teams (the top two from each of the nine qualifying groups and the best third-placed team) joined France who qualified automatically as hosts; a series of two-legged play-off ties between the remaining third-placed teams in November 2015 decided the last four spots at the final tournament. read more…
Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in the Old Port of Marseille
5 July 2014 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General, European Union, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time: 7 minutes The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MuCEM) (French: Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée) is a national museum located in the Old Port of Marseille, in the South of France. It was inaugurated on the 7th of June 2013 as part of the special year designating Marseille as the European Capital of Culture. read more…Theme Week Marseille – Château d’If off the coast
23 October 2013 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time: 7 minutes The Château d’If is a fortress (later a prison) located on the island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul Archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea about a mile offshore in the Bay of Marseille in southeastern France. Île d’If measures 3 hectares (0.03 km2) and is located 3.5 kilometers west of the Vieux Port in Marseille. The entire island is heavily fortified; high ramparts with gun platforms surmount the cliffs that rise steeply from the surrounding ocean. Apart from the fortress, or château as it is ironically called, the island is uninhabited. read more…Theme Week Marseille – Košice and Marseille, European Capitals of Culture 2013
14 November 2012 | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union | Rubric: General, French Riviera, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time: 6 minutesKošice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 240,000, Košice is the second largest city in Slovakia after the capital Bratislava. Being the economic and cultural center of eastern Slovakia, Košice is the seat of the Košice Region and Košice Self-governing Region, the Slovak Constitutional Court, three universities, various dioceses, and many museums, galleries, and theaters. Košice is an important industrial center of Slovakia. The town has good railway connections and an international airport. read more…