1.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
4.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
5.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
6.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
7.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
8.
Occitan language
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Occitan, also known as lenga dòc by its native speakers, is a Romance language. It is spoken in southern France, Italys Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spains Val dAran, collectively, Occitan is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese. However, there is controversy about the unity of the language, others include Catalan in this family, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. In fact, Catalan was considered an Occitan dialect until the end of the 19th century, today, Occitan is an official language in Catalonia, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken in the Val dAran. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the preferred language for use in the Val dAran. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish, there is no written standard language called Occitan. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility, the long-term survival of Occitan is in grave doubt. According to the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages, four of the six dialects of Occitan are considered severely endangered. The name Occitan comes from lenga dòc, òc being the Occitan word for yes and this was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc, while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud, Old Catalan, and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc. Other Romance languages derive their word for yes from the Latin sic, thus, etc. such as Spanish sí, Eastern Lombard sé, Sicilian and Italian sì, or Portuguese sim. French uses si to answer yes in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense, the name Occitan is sometimes considered a neologism, however, it was attested around 1300 as occitanus, a crossing of oc and aquitanus. For many centuries, the Occitan dialects were referred to as Limousin or Provençal, after Frédéric Mistrals Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. The term first came into fashion in Italy, currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name Occitan for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, NO·L LI TOLRÀ NO·L LI DEVEDARÀ NI NO LEN DECEBRÀ. Nec societatem non AURÀ, si per castellum recuperare NON O FA, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo LO TORNARÀ, carolingian litanies, both written and sung in Latin, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience. Occitan was the vehicle for the poetry of the medieval troubadours and trobairises, At that time
9.
Marseille
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Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture, together with Košice, Slovakia and it hosted the European Football Championship in 2016, and will be the European Capital of Sport in 2017. The city is home to campuses of Aix-Marseille University and part of one of the largest metropolitan conurbations in France. Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, further east still are the Sainte-Baume, the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the artists colony of lEstaque, further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre, the citys main thoroughfare stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Further out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château dIf, the main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the fountain of Place Castellane. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, the railway station—Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement, it is linked by the Boulevard dAthènes to the Canebière. Marseille has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, december, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine while the average sunshine in France is around 1,950 hours, less frequent is the Sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara Desert. Snowfalls are infrequent, over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall, Massalia, whose name was probably adapted from an existing language related to Ligurian, was the first Greek settlement in France. It was established within modern Marseille around 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The connection between Massalia and the Phoceans is mentioned in Thucydidess Peloponnesian War, he notes that the Phocaean project was opposed by the Carthaginians, the founding of Massalia has also been recorded as a legend. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage, at the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice
10.
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence
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Ramon Berenguer IV or V, Count of Provence and Forcalquier, was the son of Alfonso II of Provence and Garsenda de Sabran, heiress of Forcalquier. He was the first Count of Provence to live in the county in more than one hundred years, after his fathers death, Ramon was imprisoned in the castle of Monzón, in Aragon until he was able to escape in 1219 and claim his inheritance. He was a powerful and energetic ruler who added Forcalquier to his domain and he and his wife were known for their support of troubadors, always having some around the court. He was known for his generosity, though his income did not always keep up and he wrote laws prohibiting nobles from performing menial work, such as farming or heavy labor. Ramon had many disputes with his neighbors, the Counts of Toulouse. In 1226, Ramon began to reassert his right to rule in Marseille, the citizens there initially sought the help of Ramons father-in-law Thomas, Count of Savoy in his role as imperial vicar. However, they sought the help of Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse. In 1228, Ramon supported his father-in-law in a conflict against Turin. This small war was one of many intended to more firmly establish control over trade from Italy into France. While the Albigensian Crusade worked in his favor against Toulouse, Ramon was concerned that its resolution in the Treaty of Paris left him in a precarious position, Raymond turned his troops from fighting France to attempting to claim lands from Provence. When Blanche of Castile sent her knight to both Toulouse and Provence in 1233, Ramon entertained him lavishly, and the knight left well impressed by both the count and his eldest daughter, Margaret. Soon after, Blanche negotiated the marriage between Margaret and her son, Louis, with a dowry of ten thousand silver marks, Ramon had to get contributions from allies for a portion, and had to pledge several of his castles to cover the rest. Ramon and Beatrice travelled with their daughter to Lyon in 1234 to sign the marriage treaty, shortly after, William began negotiating on Ramons behalf with Henry III of England to marry his daughter Eleanor. Henry sent his own knight to Provence early in 1235, and again Ramon, Henry wrote to William on June 22 that he was very interested, and sent a delegation to negotiate the marriage in October. Henry was seeking a dowry of up to twenty thousand marks to help offset the dowry he had just paid for his sister. However, he had drafted seven different versions of the contract, with different amounts for the dowry. Ramon shrewdly negotiated for that option, offering as consolation a promise to leave her ten thousand marks when he died, in 1238, Ramon joined his brother-in-law, Amadeus IV at the court of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor in Turin. Frederick was gathering forces to more control in Italy
11.
Counts of Provence
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The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. Provence was eventually joined to the other Burgundian kingdom, but it remained ruled by its own powerful, in the eleventh century, Provence became disputed between the traditional line and the counts of Toulouse, who claimed the title of Margrave of Provence. In the High Middle Ages, the title of Count of Provence belonged to families of Frankish origin, to the House of Barcelona, to the House of Anjou. After 1032, the county was part of the Holy Roman Empire and it was inherited by King Louis XI of France in 1481, and definitively incorporated into the French royal domain by his son Charles VIII in 1484. Provence was usually a part of the division of the Frankish realm known as Kingdom of Burgundy and their title sometimes appears as rector Provinciae. This is an incomplete list of the known Merovingian-appointed dukes of Provence, out of this division came the Kingdom of Provence, given to Lothairs youngest son, Charles. A heritage of royal rule was thus inaugurated in Provence that, though it was subsumed into one of its larger neighbouring kingdoms. The kingdom of Provence was also known as Lower Burgundy and its capital was first Vienne then Arles and it is therefore sometimes known as Arelate. Charles Provence divided between surviving brothers, Lothair II and the Emperor Louis II, Louis II, also Holy Roman Emperor from 855 As with his Kingdom of Italy, Louiss Provence goes to his uncle on his death. Charles the Bald, also Holy Roman Emperor from 875 Louis the Stammerer With the death of Louis, Charles successor, boso married Ermengard, daughter of Louis II, to strengthen his and his sons claim. Hugh never used the title in Provence. Hugh In 933, Provence ceases to be a kingdom as Hugh exchanged it with Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy for the Iron Crown of Lombardy. It was in the aftermath of the death of Louis the Blind that Provence began to be ruled by local counts placed under the authority of a margrave, firstly, Hugh of Arles served as duke and regent during Louis long blindness. Secondly, Hugh gave the march of Vienne and duchy of Provence to Rudolf II of Burgundy in a treaty of 933, Rudolf was never recognised by the nobles of the country and instead appointed Hugh, Duke of Burgundy, its first margrave. At the time, the counts in the region were the counts of Arles. Those who would first bear the title comes Provinciae or count of Provence descended from one Rotbold of Arles, William I and Rotbold I did not divide their fathers domains and this indivisibility was maintained by their respective descendants. It is thus impossible to ascertain who succeeded whom in the county as various reigns overlap, the margravial title also continued in their family until it passed to Bertrand, Count of Toulouse in 1062
12.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
13.
Gerard Thom
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In French sources, Gerard is sometimes known as Gérard de Martigues due to a tradition of his place of birth being Martigues, Provence. However, William of Tyre, writing in the late 12th century and this is not implausible, as merchants from Amalfi were involved in the reconstruction of the hospice in Jerusalem in the 1020s, after its destruction in 1005 under caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. A local historian of Amalfi, Giuseppe Gargano, has proposed an identity of Gerard with a certain Gerard Sasso on record in the city of Amalfi. An alleged surname Tum, variously also Thom, Tune or Tenque, is due to an error by Pierre-Joseph de Haitze, de Haitzes mistake was identified in 1885 by Ferdinand de Hellwald. Little is known about Gerards life, his nationality and place of birth is unknown (tradition makes him a native of either Amalfi or Lower Burgundy. He most likely was a Benedictine lay brother, possibly one of the frates conversi who came to the Holy Land to serve at the abbey of St. Mary of the Latins. During the Siege of Jerusalem, when the Christian population had been expelled from Jerusalem, after the success of the First Crusade and the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Gerard continued his work at the hospital, now under vastly more beneficent conditions. Godfrey, the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem, gave property to the hospital. Also in 1101, the Duke of Apulia gave a gift to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. This happened in 1113, when Pope Paschal II in Pie Postulatio Voluntatis recognised the hospital as a new religious order, the brothers serving in the hospital were now known as the Hospitallers of St. John, and Gerard as the Rector of the Hospital. The Order adopted a rule that adopted components from the Rule of St Benedict, the order was now independent, subject only to the papacy, and free to elect Gerards successor, and free to receive and own property. Gerard lived for seven years. He died in his seventies on 3 September, between 1118 and 1121 and his successor was Raymond du Puy. The order continued to flourish under Raymond, who first used the title of master after Roger II of Sicily used this address in letters to Raymond. It was also Raymond who militarised the order, according to descriptions of the operations of hospital from the second half of the 12th century, the mens hospital was divided into eleven wards and could tend to more than 1,000 patients. The hospital admitted all sick, regardless of nationality or religion, the Hospitallers referred to their patients as our lords, the sick in a tradition that presumably originated with Gerard. Legends about the life of Gerard are recorded in the 13th century, according to these accounts, Gerard would hide bread within the folds of his cloak to feed the hungry Crusaders outside the city walls. When the Muslims rulers discovered Gerard they miraculously only found stones within his cloak, according to other versions, the Muslims believed that Gerard was hoarding money and not paying the proper taxes, and he was arrested and tortured, leaving him crippled for the rest of his life
14.
Knights Hospitaller
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It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, until it became known by its current name. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thoms order and it regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes. In 1834, the order, by this time known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, acquired new headquarters in Rome, in 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital, in 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by the Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, which was built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist and it was served by the Order of Saint Benedict. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem, under his successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order extended to providing pilgrims with an armed escort. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its charitable character. Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as Master of the Hospital in 1118, organised a militia from the orders members, in 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms, a silver cross in a field of red. The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land, frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. The statutes of Roger de Moulins deal only with the service of the sick, the order numbered three distinct classes of membership, the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248 Pope Innocent IV approved a military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour, they wore a red surcoat with a cross emblazoned on it. Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars, at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers, the property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies. As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England, as a result, buildings such as St Johns Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after four years of campaigning
15.
Governor General
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Governor-General or governor general, in modern usage, is the title of an office-holder appointed to represent the monarch of a sovereign state in the governing of an independent realm. Governors-General have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, in modern usage, the term governor-general originated in those British colonies which became self-governing within the British Empire. In these cases, the Crowns representative in the federated Dominion was given the title of governor general. Another non-federal state, Newfoundland, was a Dominion for 16 years with the Kings representative retaining the title of governor throughout this time, since 2016, the title governor-general has been given to all representatives of the sovereign in independent Commonwealth realms. In these countries the governor-general acts as the representative, performing the ceremonial and constitutional functions of a head of state. The only other nation which uses the designation is Iran. In Iran, the authority is headed by a governor general. As such they held the prerogative powers of the monarch. The monarch or imperial government could overrule any governor-general, though this could often be cumbersome, the governors-general are entitled to wear a unique uniform, which are not generally worn today. If of the rank of general, equivalent or above. The report resulting from the 1926 Imperial Conference stated, in other words, the political reality of a self-governing Dominion within the British Empire with a governor-general answerable to the sovereign became clear. British interference in the Dominion was not acceptable and independent country status was clearly displayed, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were clearly not controlled by the United Kingdom. The governor-general, however, is appointed by the monarch. Executive authority is vested in the monarch, though much of it can be exercisable only by the governor-general on behalf of the sovereign of the independent realm. Except in rare cases, the only acts in accordance with constitutional convention and upon the advice of the national prime minister. The governor-general is still the representative of the sovereign and performs the same duties as they carried out historically. In some realms, the monarch could in principle overrule a governor-general, in Australia the present Queen is generally assumed to be head of state, since the governor-general and the state governors are defined as her representatives. However, since the governor-general performs almost all national regal functions, to a lesser extent, uncertainty has been expressed in Canada as to which officeholder—the monarch, the governor general, or both—can be considered the head of state
16.
Charles Maurras
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Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras was a French author, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of Action Française, a movement that was monarchist, anti-parliamentarist. Maurras ideas greatly influenced National Catholicism and nationalisme intégral, a major tenet of integral nationalism was stated by Maurras as a true nationalist places his country above everything. A political theorist and an intellectual influence in early 20th-century Europe, his views influenced several far-right ideologies. Maurras was born in an old Provençal family, and brought up by his mother and grandmother in a Catholic, in his early teens he became deaf. Like many other French politicians, he was affected greatly by the defeat during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, Maurras published his first article, at the age of 17 years, in the review Annales de philosophie chrétienne. He then collaborated on various reviews, including L’Événement, La Revue bleue, La Gazette de France or La Revue encyclopédique, in which he praised Classicism, however, some time during his youth, Maurras lost his faith and became an agnostic. At the age of seventeen he came to Paris and started literary criticism in 1887 in the Catholic and he became acquainted with the Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral in 1888 and shared the federalist thesis of Mistrals Félibrige movement. The same year he met the nationalist writer Maurice Barrès, in 1890, Maurras approved Cardinal Lavigeries call for the rallying of Catholics to the Republic, making his opposition not to the Republic in itself but to sectarian Republicanism. Beside this Orleanist affiliation, Maurras shared some traits with Bonapartism, in December 1887, he demonstrated to the cry of Down with the robbers. During the decorations trafficking scandal which had involved Daniel Wilson, the son-in-law of the President Jules Grévy, despite this, he opposed at first the nationalist-populist Boulangist philosophy. But in 1889, after a visit to Maurice Barrès, Barrès voted for the Boulangist candidate, despite his anti-Semitism of the heart, during 1894–95 he briefly worked for Barrès newspaper La Cocarde, although he sometimes opposed Barrès opinions concerning the French Revolution. La Cocarde supported General Boulanger who had become a threat to the parliamentary Republic in the late 1880s and he became involved in politics at the time of the Dreyfus affair, becoming well-known as an Anti-Dreyfusard. He endorsed Colonel Henrys forgery blaming Dreyfus, as he considered that defending Dreyfus weakened the Army, according to Maurras, Dreyfus was to be sacrificed on the altar of national interest. But when the Republican nationalist thinker Barrès accused Dreyfus of being guilty because of his Jewishness, Maurras went a step further, while Barrès anti-Semitism originated both in pseudo-scientific racist contemporary theories and Biblical exegesis, Maurras decried scientific racism in favor of a more radical state anti-Semitism. In 1899 he founded the review Action Française, an offshoot of the created by Maurice Pujo. Maurras quickly became influential in the movement, and converted Pujo and Vaugeois to monarchism, with Léon Daudet he edited the movements review La Revue de lAction Française, which during 1908 became a daily newspaper with the shorter title LAction Française. The AF mixed integral nationalism with reactionary themes, shifting the nationalist ideology, previously supported by left-wing Republicans and it had a wide readership during the implementation of the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State
17.
Nadjim Abdou
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Nadjim Jimmy Abdou is a footballer who plays for Millwall as a midfielder and right back. He previously played for Martigues, Sedan and Plymouth Argyle and he has represented Comoros at international level. Sedan finished in 19th place and were relegated, after a trial in the summer of 2007, Jimmy Abdou joined English Football League Championship club Plymouth Argyle signing on a free transfer on 20 August until the end of the 2007–08 season. He made his first league appearance on 25 August as a 62nd-minute substitute in a 3–2 defeat at Barnsley and he scored his first goal in English football against Scunthorpe United in a 3–0 win at Home Park on 1 December 2007. After contract discussions in April 2008, Abdou left Plymouth in June 2008 after turning down the contract offer. Abdous signature has turned out to be something of a coup for manager Kenny Jackett, in spite of one or two short term injuries, Abdou has been successful at Millwall, holding down a regular first team slot in central midfield when fit. After missing out on promotion during the 2008–09 season, Abdou helped play a big part in earning Millwall promotion the following season and he scored in Millwalls first game of the season against Southampton, with a header, it turned out to be his only goal of the season. Millwall were eventually promoted after beating Swindon Town in the play-off final, in April 2012, Abdou was named as the clubs Player of the Year for the 2011–12 season after a vote by Millwalls supporters. I would like to thank all the fans who voted for me, Abdou earned his first call up to the Comoros national football team for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Mozambique on 9 October 2010. He played the match, which Comoros lost 1–0 after conceding a goal in stoppage time
18.
Ali Ahamada
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Ali Ahamada is a Comorian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Turkish club Kayserispor in Süper Lig. He made his debut on 20 February 2011 appearing against Rennes appearing as a substitute for the injured Marc Vidal. In his eight starts in the 2010–11 season, Ahamada recorded six clean sheets, notably against Lens, Lyon, Bordeaux, in the 2011–12 season, Ahamada opened the campaign as the teams first-choice goalkeeper. He recorded ten clean sheets in the teams first 19 matches of the season, on 22 September 2012 he scored the 2-2 goal in a league game at home to Rennes by heading in the ball in stoppage time. Ahamada is born in France to parents of Comorian descent and he was a French youth national. In March 2016, Ahamada was called up to the Comoros national football team, toulouse FC club profile Ali Ahamada – French league stats at LFP Ali Ahamada at LÉquipe Football
19.
Rod Fanni
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Rod Dodji Fanni is a French footballer who plays as a right back for French club Marseille. He made five appearances for the French national team between 2008 and 2010 and he began his football career whilst pursuing his studies, earning a BEP and then going on to study for a Bachelors degree in Industrial Science and Technology. Fanni began his career with FC Martigues, playing in both Ligue 2 and the Championnat National and he joined RC Lens in 2002 where he made his debut in Ligue 1, as well as both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup. He played the entire 2004–05 season on loan at Châteauroux in Ligue 2, Fanni was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year for the 2008–09 season. He expressed desire to play in the Premier League and was linked with a move to Newcastle United before signing for Rennes. He was also linked with Everton and West Ham United prior to signing a contract extension with Rennes in November 2009. In December 2010, Marseille successfully acquired the services of Fanni, in 2015 Fanni left Marseille after his contract ended. On 11 July 2015 Qatari side Al-Arabi SC signed Fanni on a free transfer, on 1 February 2016, Fanni signed for Charlton Athletic on loan until the end of season. On 31 August 2016, Fanni returned to Marseille, Fanni made his debut for the French national team against Tunisia on 14 October 2008 in a 3–1 victory. Despite stiff competition from such as Bacary Sagna and François Clerc. Marseille Coupe de la Ligue,2011,2012 Trophée des champions,2011 UNFP Team of the Year, 2008–09, 2009–10 Fannis profile, photo & stats Rod Fanni – French league stats at LFP Rod Fanni at ESPN FC
20.
Foued Kadir
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Foued Kadir is an Algerian footballer who plays for Spanish club AD Alcorcón and the Algeria national team as an attacking midfielder. An Algerian international, Kadir was a member of the Algeria national team at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, as of October 2013, he has won 23 international caps and scored 2 goals. Born in Martigues, Kadir began his career in the ranks of his hometown club. At the age of 18, after numerous problems during his time with the club, after leaving the club, he played briefly for two amateur sides, AS Gignac and Stade Beaucairois, before joining Troyes reserve team. After a season and a half with Troyes, he joined Championnat National side Cannes where he would spend the three seasons. In June 2007, Kadir went on trial with Ligue 2 side Amiens, in July 2009, he started training with Ligue 1s Valenciennes and two weeks later signed a two-year contract with the club. On 2 January 2013, Kadir moved to Olympique de Marseille for a transfer fee €500,000 and he was subsequently loaned to Rennes and Real Betis, signing an obligatory permanent contract with the latter after its promotion to La Liga. On 31 August 2016, free agent Kadir signed for Getafe CF, the following 5 January, he moved to fellow league team AD Alcorcón. Kadir was called up by Algeria at the Under-23 level for a camp in France. He has been named in the squad for Algerias 2010 World Cup campaign. On 28 May 2010, Kadir made his debut for the Algerian national team in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland, as of 15 June 2012 Foued Kadir at BDFutbol Foued Kadir – French league stats at LFP Foued Kadir at DZFoot. com
21.
Imany
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Nadia Mladjao, better known by her stage name Imany, is a French pop-soul singer. Her debut album, The Shape of a Broken Heart, which was released in 2011, reached platinum status in France, Greece and she was born in Martigues near Marseille, in a family from the Comoros in 1979. Her stage name, Imany means faith in Swahili, as a youth, she was an athlete, doing high jump. She became a model for the Ford Models Europe and she went to the United States for seven years, before coming back to France, when she started her singing career. She performed at the Beau Lounge, at the Réservoir, at the Bellevilloise, imany’s first album, The Shape of a Broken Heart, which was named after a drawing she made with closed eyes, contains twelve songs written in English
22.
Aix-en-Provence
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Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a city-commune in the south of France, about 30 km north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, the population of Aix numbers approximately 143,000. Its inhabitants are called Aixois or, less commonly, Aquisextains, Aix was founded in 123 BC by the Roman consul Sextius Calvinus, who gave his name to its springs, following the destruction of the nearby Gallic oppidum at Entremont. In the 4th century AD it became the metropolis of Narbonensis Secunda and it was occupied by the Visigoths in 477. In the succeeding century, the town was plundered by the Franks and Lombards. Aix passed to the crown of France with the rest of Provence in 1487, and in 1501 Louis XII established there the parliament of Provence, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was the seat of the Intendance of Provence. Current archeological excavations in the Ville des Tours, a suburb of Aix, have unearthed the remains of a Roman amphitheatre. The city slopes gently north to south and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire can easily be seen to the east. Aixs position in the south of France gives it a warm climate and it has an average January temperature of 5 °C and a July average of 23 °C. It has an average of 300 days of sunshine and only 91 days of rain, while it is partially protected from the Mistral, Aix still occasionally experiences the cooler and gusty conditions it brings. Unlike most of France which has a climate, Aix-en-Provence has a Mediterranean climate. The Cours Mirabeau is a thoroughfare, planted with double rows of plane-trees, bordered by fine houses. It follows the line of the old city wall and divides the town into two sections. The new town extends to the south and west, the old town, with its narrow, along this avenue, which is lined on one side with banks and on the other with cafés, is the Deux Garçons, the most famous brasserie in Aix. Built in 1792, it has been frequented by the likes of Paul Cézanne, Émile Zola, the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour is situated to the north in the medieval part of Aix. The archbishops palace and a Romanesque cloister adjoin the cathedral on its south side, the Archbishopric of Aix is now shared with Arles. Among its other public institutions, Aix also has the second most important Appeal Court outside of Paris, the Hôtel de Ville, a building in the classical style of the middle of the 17th century, looks onto a picturesque square. It contains some fine woodwork and tapestries, at its side rises a handsome clock-tower erected in 1510
23.
Allauch
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Allauch is a French commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Allaudiens or Allaudiennes, Allauch is the capital of the Canton of Bouches-du-Rhône. It is a part of the Marseille Provence Urban Community, the commune had 19,521 inhabitants at the 2010 census. It is located 12 km north-east of Marseille,10 km north-east of Aubagne and 35 km south of Aix-en-Provence, access to the commune is by the D908 road from Marseille in the south-west passing through the commune and continuing north to join the D96 north of La Bouilladisse. Access to the village is by the D48 branching off the D908, there is also the D4A road from the 11th arrondissement in the south, and the D44G from the 12th arrondissement in the south-west. As Allauch is located on the edge of the Marseille conurbation there are numerous urban districts located within the commune, Allauch is separated from Mimet by the massif of lÉtoile, resulting in it being necessary to detour to Cadolive in order to go from Allauch to Mimet. Similarly it is separated from the Aubagne urban area by the Garlaban hills to the south-east, apart from the urban area in the west of the commune, the rest is heavily forested and mountainous. Deficit in social housing Each year Allauch pays about €200,000 for missing social housing in order to reach the 20% required by the Urban Renewal Law, recent increases in the price of land suitable for building has resulted in increasing difficulties in growing the social housing stock. The City Council has decided that construction project should have between 20% and 30% social housing. The first obstacle is that the commune owns little suitable land in areas to build social housing. The value of the land is high and the commune must sell land to social housing operators at well below the actual value. Furthermore, the municipality must guarantee 50% of the borrowings and contribute financially up to €20,000 per unit, the procedures are slow and it can take 3 or 4 years from the sales agreement and delivery of the first housing. 15% in the local elections in 2008. The commune may have opportunity to fulfil its obligation by purchasing existing housing through preemption to transform social housing. RTM Routes Bus Route 144 connects the station at Marseille-La Rose to La Pounche, Pie dAutry. Bus Route 142/142JET/143 connect the Marseille-la-Rose metro station to Logis-Neuf, La Bourdonniere, Bus Route 7T connects the Métro-Bus-Tramway Foch-Cinq-Avenues to Barbaraou. Route B, Plan-de-Cuques – Allauch-Village – Fontvieille - Carlevan, with a bus every 20 minutes from 7,00 to 9, 30am and 4,30 to 7, 00pm. The Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region has areas at risk of seismic activity, particularly in the Nice and Aix-en-Provence areas, the Jarret is the main river in Allauch. Together with the Huveaune it was one of the sources of water for Marseille for a long time
24.
Alleins
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Alleins is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Alleinois or Alleinoises Alleins is located some 45 km south-east of Avignon and 10 km north-east of Salon-de-Provence and it can be accessed by the D16 road from Salon-de-Provence which passes through the village and continues north-east to Mallemort. The D23 road from Lamanon to Mallemort also passes through the north of the commune, the Électricité de France Canal passes through the north of the commune from west to east. Most of the commune is farmland but the area south of the village is heavily forested. The TGV Railway line from Avignon to Marseilles passes through the commune, there are numerous streams and canals in the commune in all areas. In April 1545, during the wars of religion, Alleins was pillaged by troops of Paulin de la Garde under the direction of Jean Maynier, the land was confiscated and the people massacred. A Committee of Revolutionary Surveillance was established in Alleins in 1793 and it was made up partly of simple peasants who were sometimes illiterate and this institution somehow marked the democratic heyday of the Revolution. Illiterate members took their place in the debates and in turn occupied the place of president, in their primary mission, to arrest suspects, they were very cautious and legalistic unlike the tyrannical reputation of these committees. They also defended the community, for example in the case of the statue of Equality which was overturned in June 1794. After investigation, a member after meeting the Représentant en mission Maignet spared any untoward consequence for the commune. List of Successive Mayors In 2012, the commune had 2,428 inhabitants, the evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years
25.
Arles
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Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the Camargue is located on the territory of the commune, the city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981, the Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. An international photography festival has held in the city since 1970. The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta and its area is 758.93 km2, which is more than seven times the area of Paris. Arles has a Mediterranean climate with an annual temperature of 14.6 °C. The summers are warm and moderately dry, with averages between 22 °C and 24 °C, and mild winters with a mean temperature of about 7 °C. The city is constantly, but especially in the months, subject to the influence of the mistral. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed from September to May, with the summer drought being less marked than in other Mediterranean areas, the Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later, Celtic influences have been discovered, the city became an important Phoenician trading port, before being taken by the Romans. The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, however, it struggled to escape the shadow of Massalia further along the coast. Its chance came when it sided with Julius Caesar against Pompey, Massalia backed Pompey, when Caesar emerged victorious, Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to Arelate as a reward. The town was established as a colony for veterans of the Roman legion Legio VI Ferrata. Its full title as a colony was Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum, Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. It covered an area of some 99 acres and possessed a number of monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, Roman circus, theatre, ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. It also had the southernmost bridge on the Rhône, very unusually, the Roman bridge was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats, with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge and this unusual design was a way of coping with the rivers frequent violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional bridge. Nothing remains of the Roman bridge, which has replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot
26.
Aubagne
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Aubagne is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aubagnais or Aubagnaises, the commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Aubagne is located in the Huveaune valley and surrounded by the ranges of Garlaban with Sainte-Baume to the north. Aubagne is the city of the Agglomeration community of Pays dAubagne et de lEtoile. It is the producer of Santon figurines and also hosts many cultural events each year. The French Foreign Legion has its headquarters in Aubagne, public transport has been free at the point of use since the year 2000. Access to the commune is by the A50 autoroute from Marseille which continues south to Toulon, the A501 and A52 autoroutes branch off the A50 in the commune and merge to go north to Aix-en-Provence. There are several towns and villages in the commune apart from the main town, Les Arnauds, Les Grands Mellets, Pinchon, La Martelle, LAgrie, La Coueste, La Thuiliere. The Huveaune river flows through the commune from the east flowing west into the Mediterranean sea at Prado beach in the 8th Arrondissement in Marseilles, regional trains link the Gare dAubagne railway station with Marseille and Toulon. Aubagne was the first commune in France to be surrounded by autoroutes, the A50 autoroute Marseille-Toulon, the A52 autoroute to Aubagne-Aix-en-Provence. From 2009, Aubagne made bus travel zero-fare, a 14-kilometre, two-line tram network is planned. This project is criticized as it is not common for a city of that size, Line 1 will be from the station to Le Charrel and Line 2 will be from the station to La Penne-sur-Huveaune. Construction started in 2012 for an opening of the first phase in 2014, the tram is a long-term project to be linked with the Marseille tramway. The tram will also be zero-fare, making it one of the first zero-fare trams in the world with Tallinn, the death of Queen Joanna I of Naples began a conflict of succession as to who would become the head of the County of Provence. The Union of Aix, a confederation of cities in the region of Provence, supported Charles, Duke of Durazzo, rather than Louis I, by the spring of 1382 the Lord of Aubagne, François des Baux, supported the Duke of Anjou. This support was conditional upon the Duke helping to restore the queen to her throne, in return, Philippe de Lévis would be surety for Viscount Raymond of Turenne for the agreement between Odon de Villars, his wife Alix, and himself. If Odon and Alix failed to respect the terms of the agreement, between 1965 and 2014, Aubagne has elected three Communist mayors, the municipal council is composed mainly of communist, socialist, and other left-leaning members. Still, a significant portion of the population centre, right-of-centre
27.
Aureille
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Aureille is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aureillois or Aureilloises, the commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Aureille is located between the Alpilles mountain chain and the Crau plain some 8 km from Eyguières in the east and 8 km from Mouriès in the west and it is dominated by the Signal of Opiès, the highest point in the commune, in the north-east. It is a member of the communes of the Baux Valley, road D17 passes through the commune south of the town from Eyguières in the east to Mouries in the west. Road D25A branches off this road in the commune and goes to the village then north to join the D25 just north of the commune. The nearest motorway is the A54 autoroute to the south with Exit 12 near Saint-Martin-de-Crau in the south-west or Exit 13 west of Salon-de-Provence in the south-east, there is also the A7 autoroute to the east which passes down the Rhone valley and connects Lyon to Marseille via Orange. Marseille Provence Airport is the nearest international airport, there is also the Salon-de-Provence airbase just south of Salon-de-Provence town. Geologically Aureille belongs to the Crau plain, its soil consists of Alluvium and this type of soil is found throughout the Aureille plateau, to the point where it descends sharply at Mouriès. The soil composition is then modified, consisting of sloping deposits, the peaks north of Aureille, including the Tour des Opies, are very different from what is usually found in the Alpilles mountains. Aureille is traversed by the Gaudre dAureille, a stream 12 km long, and also by the Gaudre de la Vallongue and they both flow into the Étang de Berre. The Gaudre de Romanin, a 9.3 km long sub-tributary of the Rhone, the Arles branch of the Craponne Canal has irrigated the south of the commune since June 1582 which has allowed the commune to be a major producer of Crau hay. The Baux Valley Canal crosses the commune to the north of the plain, the climate in Aureille, as in the Alpilles, is considered Mediterranean. The winters are mild and relatively wet while summers are hot, the highest average temperatures occur in July and August while the lowest average temperatures occur in December and January. The month with the most rain is January with 7 days of rain on average against 2 days in July, the Alpilles region receives more rainfall than the coast of the Mediterranean,500 mm/year in Camargue against 600 to 700 mm/year at Aureille. Major frosts are rare although they were frequent in the 19th century as evidenced by the many freezes of the Rhône which have been virtually unknown in the last century. The mistral blows violently from the north or north-west especially in winter, the Alpilles deflect the wind, but Aureille does not benefit from its position to the south of the foothills of the massif and the wind blows almost as strong as in the north of the mountains. The mistral blows strongly on average 100 days a year and less strongly on 83 days which leaves only 182 days per year without wind. There are two types of mistral, the white mistral which clears the sky and accentuates the brightness, and the black mistral, which is rarer
28.
Aurons
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Aurons is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Auronais or Auronaises, the commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom. Aurons is located in the heart of the Massif des Costes mountains some 6 km north-east of Salon-de-Provence, access to the commune is by the D16 road from Salon-de-Provence which passes through the centre of the commune north of the village and continues north-east to Alleins. Access to the village is by the D68 road from Pélissanne in the south passes through the village. Route No.8 of the Libébus network serves the commune, large forests cover much of the commune but with some farming activity in the north and south. Tributaries of the Vabre rise in the north of the commune, other streams rise in the east of the commune and flows south. Climate data below is for the station at Salon-de-Provence,6 km to the south-west. From the 12th to the 15th century the priory of Saint-Pierre de Canon belonged to the Abbey of Saint-André Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, arimondus of Auronis, squire, was Lord of Aurons. He was descended from an old family of knights that participated in the Pélissanne campaign in the 12th and 13th centuries and he was the son of Hugues de Auronis, the co-lord of Aurons, and had property in Pélissanne where he owned Montmajour Abbey. Aimondus had a son, Pierre de Auronis, alias Luperiis, the death of Queen Joanna I of Naples created a crisis of succession for the County of Provence with the cities of the Union of Aix supporting Charles de Duras against Louis I of Anjou. The Lord of Aurons, Raymond, rallied to the Angevins in 1385 after the death of Louis I, a Revolutionary Surveillance Committee was established in Aurons in 1793. It could not recruit the members required by the decree of the National Convention and has several simple peasants. This institution was a mark of the height of democracy of the Revolution, illiterate members took part in the debates and in turn occupied the post of president. The committee, who were in charge of monitoring the implementation of laws and making lists of suspects, list of Successive Mayors In 2010 the commune had 361 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years
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La Barben
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La Barben is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barbenais or Barbenaises, the town is perhaps best known for its castle and its zoo. La Barben is located some 18 km north-west of Aix-en-Provence and 5 km east of Salon-de-Provence, access to the commune is by the D572 road from Salon-de-Provence which passes through the centre of the commune and continues east to Saint-Cannat. The D17 from Pélissanne to Éguilles forms the border of the commune. The D67E from Lambesc to Coudoux forms the border of the commune. The D22A comes from Pelissane and passes through the village continuing as the D22 to join the D572 in the centre of the next to the zoo. The commune is served by routes 9 and 14 of the Libébus network, the Touloubre river flows through the centre of the commune from the east and continues west to join the Mediterranean sea south of Saint-Chamas. The Vallat de Boulery forms the border of the commune as it flows west to join the Touloubre at the village. The Canal de Marseille comes from the south and passes through the centre of the commune continuing north-east, the King of France, Charles VI, intervened and sent the Seneschal of Beaucaire, Enguerrand dEudin, who conquered La Barben in the summer of 1383. List of Successive Mayors In 2010 the commune had 684 inhabitants, the evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held five years
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Barbentane
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Barbentane is a French commune of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barbentanais or Barbentanaises, the northern border of the commune is the departmental border between Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse while the western border is the departmental border with Gard. Access to the commune is by the D35 road from Rognonas in the east, which passes through the commune, the D570N from Graveson in the south-east passes along the eastern border of the commune then goes east to Rognonas. The D34 goes east from the town to join the D570N, the D77D goes south-east from the town and also joins the D5470N. The D35E goes south from the village to join the D81 in the south, the main railway line from Avignon to the south passes through the east of the commune with the Barbentane-Rognonas Station east of the town. Apart from the town there are also the districts of La Chinquine, Carrière, Le Grand Roumette, Cambageon, Fontgisclar, La Bruyère, Bragalance, and Mas de Basette. The slopes in the south of the commune are forested while the rest of the commune is farmland with an urban area of the of a significanltlysized town at the base of the slopes. The north-western tip of the commune is the confluence of the Durance river, which forms the border of the commune, and the Rhône river. The Canal des Alpines comes from the east and passes through the commune to continue south-west, parallel to the Rhône. From a geological point of there are two components of the communes surface area, to the north and east, facing the present town, is a large plain which dates from the recent Quaternary period. It consists of alluvium from the Rhône and the Durance. The first dates from the Neocomian period and the other is Miocene and this Montagnette hilly area has an area of about 6000 hectares, of which 2/3 are covered with Aleppo pines. About a quarter of the area is in the commune of Barbentane but the highest point, at 167m, is in the commune of Boulbon at Mount Raous, the first written evidence of Barbentane dates from the 9th century. The etymology of Barbentane would be closer to spa towns such as La Bourboule, Barbotan-les-Thermes, until the end of the 19th century the spelling was Barbantane with an a but the name is now consistently always spelled with an e instead, as Barbentane. Barbentane is called Barbentana according to the norm of Occitan. Originally there were three separate occupied sites on the territory, the oldest is Fretta which disappeared in the 6th century but whose name has survived in the form of Frigolet. The other two sites of Bellinto and Barbentane are much better-known, in 1957 excavations near the site of Fretta, a Chasséen human bone was discovered in a burial pit amongst various flints and animal bones. The Ligurians were the oldest people in the area who retained their name, over time they associated with the Celts which resulted in the Celto-Ligurians
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Les Baux-de-Provence
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Les Baux-de-Provence is a French commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the province of Provence in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of southern France. It has a position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its name refers to its site, in Provençal, a bauç is a rocky spur, the name bauxite is derived from the village name when it was first discovered there by geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Baussencs or Baussenques and it has been named one of the most beautiful villages in France. And has over 1.5 million visitors per year although it has only 22 residents in the part of the commune and 436 for the whole commune. Les Baux-de-Provence is located in the foothills of the Alpilles in the Parc Naturel Regional des Alpilles some 22 km south of Avignon and 15 km north-east of Arles. Access to the commune is by the D27 road from Maussane-les-Alpilles in the south passes through the village. The D5 also comes from Maussane-les-Alpilles in the south and passes through the east of the commune as it goes north to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, the D27A links the two roads in the commune. The D78F branches from the D27 in the commune and goes south-west to join the D17 west of Paradou, apart from the village there are the hamlets of Mes de Mai, Carita, and Manville. The commune is farmland in the south-east and forested hills in the rest, the commune is traversed by numerous streams which are called gaudres. A Gaudre refers to an often dry in summer and with low flow the rest of the year. The main gaudres in the commune are the Gaude de Valmouirane with numerous trutaries flowing north to join the Canal du Vigueirat north of Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles, the Gaudre du Mas de Chevrier also with numerous tributaries flows west to join the Gaudre dAuge west of the commune. The Gaudre dEntreconque flows from the north-east to south to join the Gaudre de la Foux which continues south to join the Canal des Pompes south of Maussane-les-Alpilles, the climate in Les Baux-de-Provence, as in the rest of the Alpilles, is considered Mediterranean. The winters are mild and dry and summers hot and dry, the average maximum temperature is in July and August with the lowest average minimum temperature in December and January. The wettest month is January with an average of 7 days of rain against two days in July, the Alpilles region receives more rainfall than the shores of the Mediterranean,500 mm / year in Camargue against 600 to 700 mm / year in Les Baux. Major frosts are rare but were more frequent in the 19th century as evidenced by the occasions of the freezing of the Rhône which has been virtually unknown since then. The mistral violently blows from the north or north-west especially in winter, the Alpilles deflect the wind but it blows in Baux almost as strong as in the north of the chain. The mistral blows strongly 100 days a year on average and less strong on 83 days lesving only 182 days a year without wind, there are two types of Mistral, the white mistral on clear days and the black mistral, rarer, which is accompanied by rain
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Bouc-Bel-Air
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Bouc-Bel-Air is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. It is situated between Marseille, Gardanne and Aix-en-Provence, the old village is located at the summit of a small hill. Bouc-Bel-Air is typically in Provençal style, founded around a rock formed the foundation of an old castle of the 7th century. It has a nice view on several mountains among which the locally well known Sainte-Victoire. Inhabited since very ancient times, its sites witness of Roman-Gallic settlings, some of these sites date to the 7th century BC. Invasions of the Barbarians took place in the 7th century AD, birthplace of Adolphe Thiers, 2nd President of France Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department INSEE Official website
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La Bouilladisse
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La Bouilladisse is a commune in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region of France. The A52 autoroute skirts the border of the commune’s territory. A TER rail service connects the town with Aix and Marseille, the commune was created on 6 July 1880 as La Bourine, when it was separated from the neighbouring village of Auriol. It adopted its current name on 20 January 1910, the church of St. Laurent, dating from the twentieth century. The chapel of La Bourine, dating from the eighteenth century, the two 18th century châteaux of Velin-Tournon and La Malvesine. Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The département of Bouches-du-Rhône INSEE Official village website Annuaire Marie website Saint-Vitte on the Quid website
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