The Place Jean-Jaurès (), also known as La Plaine (), is a historic square in

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 ...

, France. As early as the 13th century, it was a camping ground for Christian Crusaders on their way to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. It later became a meeting place to welcome dignitaries and members of the French royal family. It is now home to a

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

. It is named after politician

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

Location

It is located at the intersection of the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

, 6th arrondissements. From East to West, it can be reached via the Rue Curiol; Rue de la Bibliothèque; Rue des trois Mages; Rue Sibié; Rue Saint-Savournin; Rue Horace Bertin; Boulevard Chave; Rue de l'Olivier; Rue Ferrari; Rue Saint-Pierre; Rue Ferdinand Rey; Rue Saint-Michel; and Rue André Poggioli. Jean Jaurès Square is located in the medieval area of Montpellier, at the intersection of Lodge Street and Needleword Street. This pedestrian square is a rectangular space, measuring about 164 feet on each side. It features a statue of Jean Jaurès and numerous bars with terraces shaded by plane trees. The square occupies the site created by the 1794 demolition of the old Church of Our Lady of the Tablets, which dated back to the 11th century. The church earned its name from the money changers who conducted their business inside. It should not be confused with another nearby church of Our Lady.

History

The square was established as a camping ground for Christian

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

on their way to the

in the 13th century.André Bouyala d'Arnaud, ''Évocation du vieux Marseille'', Paris: Les éditions de minuit, 1961, chapter 17: Le quartier de la Plaine, p. 343 It became a meeting place to welcome dignitaries and members of the French royal family. On May 22, 1319,

Robert, King of Naples Robert of Anjou (), known as Robert the Wise (; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the thir ...

and his wife,

Sancha of Majorca Sancia of Majorca (c. 1281 – 28 July 1345), also known as Sancha, was Queen of Naples from 1309 until 1343 as the wife of Robert the Wise. She served as regent of Naples during the minority of her stepgrandaughter, Joanna I of Naples, from 1343 ...

, were welcome here on their way to see the relics of Robert's brother,

Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, whe ...

.Augustin Fabre, ''Les rues de Marseille'', Marseille: E. Camoin, 1869, Volume 5: Place Saint Michel, p. 242 Shortly after the

Battle of Marignano The Battle of Marignano, which took place on 13–14 September 1515, near the town now called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan, was the last major engagement of the War of the League of Cambrai. It pitted the French army, composed of t ...

in 1515, King

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

and his wife, Queen

Claude of France Claude of France (13 October 1499 – 26 July 1524) was Queen of France from 1 January 1515 as the wife of King Francis I and Duchess of Brittany in her own right from 9 January 1514 until her death in 1524. She was the eldest daughter of Ki ...

were welcome here by Bishop Claude de Seyssel and viguier Louis de Vento.Augustin Fabre, ''Les rues de Marseille'', Marseille: E. Camoin, 1869, Volume 5: Place Saint Michel, pp. 244-245 On November 6, 1564, King

Charles IX of France Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II of France, Francis II in 1560, an ...

, his mother Queen

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

, and his brother, the future King

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

, were welcome here.Augustin Fabre, ''Les rues de Marseille'', Marseille: E. Camoin, 1869, Volume 5: Place Saint Michel, p. 248 On November 7, 1662, King

Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

was welcomed here by Consul Boniface de Cabannes.Augustin Fabre, ''Les rues de Marseille'', Marseille: E. Camoin, 1869, Volume 5: Place Saint Michel, p. 346 On October 5, 1845, Saint

Eugène de Mazenod Eugène de Mazenod, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, OMI (born Charles-Joseph-Eugène de Mazenod; 1 August 1782 – 21 May 1861) was a French people, French aristocrat and Catholic Church in France, Catholic bishop who founded the congregat ...

, then the

Bishop of Marseille The Archdiocese of Marseille (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Massiliensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Marseille'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France.Notre-Dame de la Garde Notre-Dame de la Garde (; : Titles of Mary, Our Lady of the Guard), known to local citizens as ''la Bonne Mère'' (French for 'the Good Mother'), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Basilicas in the Catholic Church, basilica in Marseille and the city ...

.Robert Levet, ''La Vierge de la Garde au milieu des bastions : Quatre siècles de cohabitation entre l'Église et l'Armée sur une colline de Marseille (1525-1941)'', Marseille: Paul Tacussel, 1994, pp. 109-110 On November 14, 1886,

Louis Capazza Louis Henri Capazza (1862–1928) was a French semi-professional balloonist. He was born in Bastia, Corsica on January 17, 1862. , ''...which a Corsican named Capazza, coming from the town of Bastia, has invented...'' He lived in Belgium from 18 ...

and

Alphonse Fondère Alphonse may refer to: * Alphonse (given name) * Alphonse (surname) * Alphonse Atoll, one of two atolls in the Seychelles' Alphonse Group *Alphonso (mango), a mango-cultivar from India See also *Alphons *Alfonso (disambiguation) Alfonso (and vari ...

took off in a

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

from here and flew all the way to

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

.Pierre Gallocher, ''Marseille, zigzags dans le passé'', Marseille: Tacussel, 1984, volume 1, pp. 163-167 As a result, a commemorative sculpture by

Louis Botinelly Louis Botinelly (26 January 1883 – 28 March 1962) was a French sculptor. Biography Personal life Botinelly was born on 2 January 1883 in Digne-les-Bains, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. He died on 26 March 1962 in Marseille. Career He wa ...

on the corner of rue Sibié and Place Jean-Jaurès was dedicated on November 16, 1930, by aviators

Dieudonné Costes Dieudonné Costes (14 November 1892 – 18 May 1973) was a French fighter ace during World War I, and later distance records-breaking aviator. Early life and military service Costes was born in Septfonds, Tarn-et-Garonne. He received a pilot ...

and

Maurice Bellonte Maurice Bellonte ( Méru, Oise, 25 October 1896 – Paris, 14 January 1983) was a French aviator who set flight distance records. Associated with Dieudonné Costes, in 1930 he performed the first westbound crossing of the North Atlantic fro ...

. In 1889, Nicolas Chave, the son of landowner and developer

André Chave André Chave (; 1799-1868) was a French landowner and real estate developer in Marseille. Early life André Chave was born in 1799. Career A major landowner of agricultural fields, he became a real estate developer as the city of Marseille grew ...

, commissioned architect Gaudensi Allar to design a house on the corner of the Boulevard Chave and the square. The square was described by French author

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

in his 1947 novelist ''Noé''.Jean Giono, ''Noé'', Paris: Gallimard,

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the ...

, 1974, Volume 3, p. 805 In 2016, a competition was realized to renovate the Place, which was met with stark opposition by the local residents when implementation started in 2018, seeing riots and confrontations with police and security forces. The lack of participation and consultation as well as the concomitance of the building collapse Rue d'Aubagne exacerbated the conflict. It was, before the renovation, home to a daily farmers' market except for Sundays, from 7:30Am to 1:30PM. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the market is mostly set up for fresh vegetables and fruits. On Wednesdays, only flowers are sold. It was one of the largest farmers' markets in Marseille.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Place Jean-Jaures Buildings and structures in Marseille Farmers' markets in France Jean Jaurès