Calanques National Park ( French: ''Parc national des Calanques'') is a French national park located on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast in

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. It was established in 2012 and extends over , of which is land, while the remaining is marine area. It includes parts of the

Massif des Calanques The Massif des Calanques () is a wild and rugged terrain stretching from the ninth arrondissement of Marseille to the east towards Cassis, spanning 20 km in length and 4 km in width along the coast. Its highest peak is Mont Puget at 565m ...

stretching between

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Cassis Cassis (; Occitan: ''Cassís'') is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, in Southern France. In 2016, it ...

and

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, La Ciutat ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternmo ...

.Parc national des Calanques
"Massif des Calanques"
, retrieved 12 July 2013. Some of the park's best known features include the

Calanque de Sormiou The Calanque de Sormiou is the biggest calanque of the Calanques National Park, France. Located in the 9th arrondissement of Marseille, it is famous for its climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part o ...

Calanque de Morgiou Calanque de Morgiou 2

The Calanque de Morgiou is one of the big ...

Calanque de Port-Miou The Calanque de Port-Miou is one of the three big Cassis calanques. It is very long and narrow, and thus was very suitable for establishing a marina. The name ''Port-Miou'' is an approximate transcription in French orthography of the Occitan ''P ...

Calanque de Sugiton The Calanque de Sugiton is one of the numerous Calanques located between Marseille and Cassis, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France ...

and

Cosquer Cave The Cosquer Cave is located in the ''Calanque de Morgiou'' in Marseille, France, near Cap Morgiou. The entrance to the cave is located underwater, due to the Holocene sea level rise. The cave contains various prehistoric rock art engravings. Its ...

History

In 1923, the Comité de défense des Calanques was established with the aim of preventing industry development at En-Vau. In 1999, the groupement d'intérêt public (GIP) des Calanques was founded to prepare the creation of a national park. Eleven years later, the GIP presented its first draft for a national park; the third draft was approved in 2011. On 18 April 2012, Prime Minister

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

signed the decree establishing Calanques National Park.

Gallery

File:Calanque de Sugiton vue d'en haut.JPG, Sugiton File:2015-30-04-Les-Calanques 0064.jpg, Morgiou File:Vue de la calanque d'En-Vau.jpg, En-Vau File:Calanques depuis le sentier de randonnée.jpg, Belvédère

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control National parks of France Protected areas established in 2012 Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests