Saint-Savournin (; ) is a
commune east of
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
at the eastern extremity of the
Massif de l'Étoile between
Cadolive and
Mimet in the
Bouches-du-Rhône department in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
in southern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
History
Signs of
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
settlement have been found and extensive evidence of human habitation during the
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
centuries has been identified.
Medieval Saint-Savournin was a village that made its living from the land, rearing
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and
goats and cultivating
olives.
Name
The commune's name originated from the first church in the area, seen in writings donated to the Abbey of Saint-Victor in 1010. The church was known as Sanctus Saturninus at the time and was most likely built on the ruins of a temple dedicated to
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
. In the 16th century, Saint-Saturnin became Saint-Savournin following the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539 which prescribed the writing in French of all official acts.
Population
In the 19th century, Italian immigration encouraged the growth of the population, particularly in La Valentine, thanks to the industrial activity around the mines. Most of the Italians came from the village of Moiola in Piedmont . A friendship pact was signed between the two villages on April 29, 1979.
See also
*
Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
References
External links
Official website
Communes of Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
{{BouchesRhône-geo-stub