Aix and its surroundings

Protected by the St. Victoire Mountain which rises à1.011 m, Aix is surrounded by unspoilt countryside rich with authentic Provencal houses surrounded by French gardens. Its name comes from the hot springs discovered in the foundation of the city in 123 BC by the Romans. Aix was the capital of Provence in the fifteenth century, prosperous merchants and notables of the city made the Florence of Provence as we know it today.

Bourgeois homes, flower plots, town houses, ancient fountains, shady streets ... all images of the noble Provence of XVII and XVIII are gathered in Aix. City of art and culture, Aix has a rich architectural heritage beautifully restored and maintained. The mansions align their beautiful carved doors and windows with balconies and ironwork of art on the Cours Mirabeau and the Rue Gaston de Saporta, Aix is a veritable outdoor museum. The elegant Aix and the region are found in the chic boutiques of the Mazarin district.

To see: Granet Museum, Cathedral of Saint-Sauveur

Famous for its wine, truffles and stone, so you seduce Rognes for landscapes that surround it. Extensive farmland or wilderness and authentic, small sheds or Modest beautiful bourgeois country house you will feel that nothing has changed and one to keep quiet life of yesteryear.

Ventabren is a very pretty village perched atop a hill nominal Dominee The ruins of the castle of Queen Jeanne. Strategically located in the triangle Aix-Marseille-Salon de Provence, Ventabren offers both the scenery and the picturesque Provencal countryside within 30 minutes of a large conurbation. Ventabren has grown substantially in recent years and has spent a small Provencal village Extensive residential area where new homes are springing up like mushrooms and spread below the village in the plains that surround the village.Ventabren has the characteristic of "Being in its territory the largest stone aqueduct in the world ...! (To see this we must leave the village and follow the arrow signs.) Roquefavour The aqueduct was built to bring water from the Durance to Marseilles.

From the terraces of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, which dominates and watches over the city, Marseille offers about Mosaic unexpected buildings and monuments. Near the port, the towers of the Abbey of Saint-Victor shelter crypts which saw the birth of Christianity in Provence. Throughout the city rise the triumphal architecture of the nineteenth century who gave him a new display, the columns of the Palais de la Bourse to the noble facades of the Prefecture, to fountains of Palais Longchamp. On the sunny side houses cling to the Old City, the clock tower of Accoules, ancient tower Sauveterre, yet the pace of life around the City Hall, While that is looming over the head of work of Pierre Puget, the dome of the former Hospice Charity.

In Equal Mont Ventoux and the Sainte-Baume, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire is one of the most famous wonders of Provence. With 1011 meters of altitude, Sainte-Victoire, offers an exceptional panorama on all the Aix countryside. The south side, overlooking the valley of the Arc provides to see a steep slope, while in the north it descends in a series of calcareous plates on the plain of the Durance. But in itself, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire is a magnificent spectacle for the eyes. If light as to think that the sun has made his home. Contrasts, the color shade of SES, the red and white base in the hills, in fact, have the privileged subject of landscape painters. In all, Cezanne is He Who remains inseparable from the Sainte-Victoire.

Fuveau is a charming town that has developed in recent years attempting to Keep His Provencal authenticity. Grouped around the church that dominates the village, Fuveau stands strategically between Aix and Marseille with the backdrop of the magnificent Mount Sainte-Victoire. You will have a beautiful view over the Sainte Baume, Olympus and Aurelian and the surrounding countryside.

The Bimont a dam was built in 1952 by the Bouches-du-Rhone to strengthen water supply Aix-en-Provence since 1875 provided by the Canal du Verdon. The dam Bimont integrated into the overall scheme of the Canal de Provence, is now a subject of regulation. The design of the dam Bimont actually a book is particularly strong, it would resist the largest earthquake. Nevertheless is a continuous surveillance provided with an automatic instrumentation and surveying by the Company Canal de Provence. An easy walk to all with exceptional views of Mont Sainte Victoire, withholding Waters Two Canal de Provence. Quick Tip: A few km from the dam IS THE CASTLE OF Vauvenargues hutches. Detour Devil: HAVE belonged to Pablo Picasso, he is buried in the park.