Fontaine de la Rotonde - Aix-en-Provence

The Cours Mirabeau is a wide thoroughfare in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Overview

440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in the town. It is lined with many cafés, one of the most famous being Les Deux Garçons and during its history frequented by famous French cultural figures such as

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

and

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature The 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the French writer Alb ...

. The street has wide sidewalks planted with double rows of plane-trees. The Cours Mirabeau is decorated by fountains, the most notable of which is the

Fontaine de la Rotonde The Fontaine de la Rotonde is a historic fountain in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Location It is located on the ''Place de la Rotonde'', at the bottom of the Cours Mirabeau in the centre of Aix-en-Provence.''Aix en provence: Pays ...

, a large fountain that makes up a roundabout at one end of the street. The street also divides Aix into two portions, the Quartier Mazarin, or "new town", which extends to the south and west, and the Ville comtale, or "old town", which lies to the north with its wide but irregular streets and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

History

From 1646 onwards, rich locals started moving into the Mazarin quarter, built by Michele Mazzarino (1605 - 1648), known as "Michel Mazarin", the Dominican who was appointed Archbishop of

in 1645 by

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in Januar ...

. Mazzarino had been professor of theology at the College of Saint Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' in Rome, and

Master of the Sacred Palace In the Roman Catholic Church, Theologian of the Pontifical Household ( la, Pontificalis Domus Doctor Theologus) is a Roman Curial office which has always been entrusted to a Friar Preacher of the Dominican Order and may be described as the pope's ...

under

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

in 1642. Mazzarino was also the brother of Giulio Mazzarino, known as "Jules Mazarin" who served as chief minister under

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of V ...

.Hotels, mansions, Aix en Provence history - Tourism France
In 1650, the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence commissioned the building of a thoroughfare for

cart A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

s where there was a crumbled rampart. By 1696 four fountains had been built : ''Fontaine des 9 canons'', ''Fontaine "Moussue'', ''Fontaine du Roi René'' and, to the west, "les Chevaux-Marins", now vanished. Whilst he first thought of building a palace there, the

Duke of Vendôme Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

came around and decided on the 'wildness of fields'. Instead he commissioned the

Pavillon Vendôme The Pavillon Vendôme is a historic pavilion surrounded by a French formal garden located 32 rue Celony in Aix-en-Provence, France. History It was built by architect Pierre Pavillon (1612-1670) between 1665 and 1667.''Aix en provence, pays Aixo ...

, where he died in 1669.

References

External links

Official webpage
{{coord, 43, 31, 36, N, 5, 26, 55, E, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Aix-en-Provence Tourist attractions in Bouches-du-Rhône