Mazargues (French pronunciation:[mazaʁɡ]) is a former village and now a neighbourhood of the9th arrondissement inMarseille,Bouches-du-Rhône,France.
Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné (1646–1705), a French aristocrat, had abastide in Mazargues. On February 5, 1703, in a letter to Mrs de Coulanges, he described it in those terms: "You only see people who live until a hundred years old; there are no illnesses; the good air and good water make it the realm of health and beauty. In this area, you only see pretty faces, only good-looking men, and old people just, like young people, have the most beautiful teeth in the world. If ever there are people who come close to those ofTelemachus, it is those of Mazargues."
According to historianAlfred Saurel (1827-1887), theChâteau de Mazargues, located on the corner of Chemin du Lancier and Chemin de Mazargues, was burned down during theFrench Revolution of 1789.
Theobelisk was originally built on thePlace Castellane in 1811 in honour ofNapoleon II (1811-1832). It was moved to the roundabout in Mazargues in 1911.
It is home to theÉglise Saint Roch, aRoman Catholic church named forSaint Roch.[1][2]
It is also home to the Mazargues Commonwealth War Cemetery, which includes 1,487 burials of casualties fromWorld War I and 267 burials of casualties from theSecond World War.[3]
The main street, Rue Émile-Zola, is named in honour of writerÉmile Zola (1840-1902). Another street, Rue Henri Revoil, is named for architectHenri Révoil (1822-1900), son of painterPierre Révoil (1776-1842). Rue Raymond Cayol is named forRaymond Cayol (1917-1997), who served as a member of the FrenchNational Assembly for theBouches-du-Rhône from 1946 to 1951. As for the Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, where the obelisk meets, it is named for MarshallJean de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952), who served in World War II and theFirst Indochina War. Moreover, Rue Henri Tomasi is named in honour ofHenri Tomasi (1901–1971), a French classical composer and conductor born in Marseille.
Jean-Claude Gaudin, who has served as the mayor of Marseille since 1995, was born and grew up in Mazargues.[4]
Media related toMazargues at Wikimedia Commons
