"Aquae Sextiae"History of Aix-en-Provence |
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"Aquae Sextiae"History of Aix-en-Provence |
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IV
century BC Three kilometers to the north of the actual emplacement of the city can be found the vestiges of Entremont, the ancient capital of the Salyens Celto-Ligurian confederation.
123
BC The Roman proconsul Caius Sextius dismantles Entremont and installs himself on a nearby site abundantly blessed with water: AQUAE SEXTIAE SALLUVIORUM. It is the birth of Aix.
15
BC This date marks the beginning of the urban and thermal development of Aix.
Around 400 AD Installation of the archbishopric who's power reaches from Fréjus to Gap.
574 AD The Roman colony is abandoned. Faced with Saracens raids the city enters a lugubrious period. All Roman constructions end up being destroyed before the end of the Middle Ages.
The Saracen attacks cease, this allows for a renaissance of the city.
Aix becomes a place of residence for the sovereign counts of Provence. Outside its ramparts artisans and merchants set up quarters.
Aix becomes a jurido-political capital. Louis II creates a university in view of doting the city with competent administrators.
King René sojourns in Aix several times. During his reign numerous works are undertaken and executed, several districts are created.
Charles III of Maine, last sovereign count of Provence legates the Provence to the king of France. During the next century and a half foreign and religious wars succeed each other.
The Parliament of Aix is established.
After the city of Aix's opposition to Richelieu and Mazarin, the visit of King Louis XIV puts and end to the long rebellious tradition of the city. Aix subsequently becomes a "Courtesan" city.
The French revolution and the loss of privileges engender a deep economical recession.
The end of the
revolutionary upheavals bring to the city of Aix the restoration and further
development of its politico-judicial and academic vocations. In the XIXth century
are created the faculty of Law (1806), Literature (1846), the Ecole Normale
and the national Ecole des Arts et Metiers (industrial arts and crafts). In
1831 the edification of the palace of the Court of Justice is completed. The
city restores its patrimony (tombs of the counts of Provence in the church of
St. Jean-de-Malte) and edify new monuments (fountain of the "Bon Roi René"
upon the cours Mirabeau - 1823).
That period is characterized by a lack of industrial development, partly because
of the local bourgeoisie. The predominance of Marseille is more and more pressing
. We can note as an example that the railroad tracks Avignon-Nice by-pass Aix
and instead go by Marseille. It is not until the 20's and the advent of the
automobile that Aix regains its major crossroads function that she had lost
due to the railroad tracing.
The Zola Canal (built by the author's father from 1838 to 1854) and the canal
du Verdon (built between 1837 and 1875) brought a solution to the recurring
problem of the city's drinkable water supply. It is how in 1913 Aix became a
Hydromineral Spa and how in 1922 she was granted a gaming casino.
In 1954 some 54.000
people live in Aix; 59% of this active population belong to the tertiary sector.
In 1961 with the arrival of the repatriate French Algerians the demographic
growth augments and it is during that period that Aix acquires it's status as
a residential city.
The city then undertakes several major urbanization programs (cite Beisson-1961,
ZUP d'Encagnane - 1965-1971, le Petit Nice -1965, ZAC du Jas de Bouffan - begun
in 1973), equipment (sports and tourisme...) and of industrialization (creation
of an 140Ha industrial park in Les Milles, all this in view of reducing the
disproportionate disparity of the economy between the secondary and tertiary
sectors of the Aix en Provence economy).