Aix-Marseille University

7 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  5 minutes

University of the Mediterranean Aix-Marseille II in Marseille © Georges Seguin/cc-by-sa-3.0

University of the Mediterranean Aix-Marseille II in Marseille © Georges Seguin/cc-by-sa-3.0

Aix-Marseille University (AMU; French: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as Université d’Aix-Marseille) is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, Count of Provence, petitioned the Pisan Antipope Alexander V to establish the University of Provence, making it one of the oldest university-level institutions in France. The institution came into its current form following a reunification of the University of Provence, the University of the Mediterranean and Paul Cézanne University. The reunification became effective on 1 January 2012, resulting in the creation of the largest university in the French-speaking world, with about 80,000 students. AMU has the largest budget of any academic institution in the Francophone world, standing at €750 million. It is consistently ranked among the top 200 universities in the world and is ranked within the top 5 universities in France according to ARWU, USNWR, and CWTS.   read more…

Theme Week Marseille – Old Port

2 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Jean Pascal Hamida/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Jean Pascal Hamida/cc-by-sa-3.0

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: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Port of L'Estaque © Irønie/cc-by-sa-3.0

Port of L’Estaque © Irønie/cc-by-sa-3.0

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: | 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: | Rubric: General, European Union, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  7 minutes

MuCEM © SiefkinDR/cc-by-sa-3.0

MuCEM © SiefkinDR/cc-by-sa-3.0

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: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Château d'If © Philippe Alès/cc-by-sa-3.0

Château d’If © Philippe Alès/cc-by-sa-3.0

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: | Rubric: General, French Riviera, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Kosice2013.sk

© Kosice2013.sk


The City of Košice

Košice 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…

Theme Week Marseille, France’s oldest and second largest city

3 May 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, French Riviera, European Union, European Capital of Culture, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  9 minutes

Corniche - Petit Nice © Jddmano

Corniche – Petit Nice © Jddmano

Marseille, known in antiquity as Massalia, is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of 240.62 km2 (93 sq mi). The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of 1,204 km2 (465 sq mi). 1,530,000 or 1,601,095 people live in the Marseille metropolitan area, ranking it third among French metro areas. Located on the southeast coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille is France’s largest commercial port and largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, as well as the capital of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Its inhabitants are called Marseillais. Marseille enjoys a Mediterranean climate. The summer/holiday season lasts for six months, from May to October, although also in April sometimes there are temperatures above 20 °C (68.0 °F). Winters are mild, with average temperature 12 °C (54 °F) during the day and 4 °C (39 °F) at night in the period December–January–February.   read more…

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