From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Marseilles redirects here. There is also Marseilles, Illinois.)
Marseille (Marselha in Provençal) is the second largest city in France. Located in the former province of Provence and on the Mediterranean sea, it is France's largest commercial port. (The English spelling "Marseilles" is falling out of usage.)
It has a population of 807,071 (1999 census), and 1,516,340 for the wider Marseille-Aix-en-Provence urban area.
Marseille is the préfecture (capital) of the Bouches-du-Rhône département.
Marseille was founded in 600 BC by Phoceans. During the Roman times, it was called Massilia.
The French rap band IAM is from Marseille.
The most widely circulated tarot deck comes from Marseille; it is called the Tarot de Marseille, and was used to play the local variant of tarocchi before it came to the notice of people who used it in cartomancy.
The metro is rubber-tired.
The city's main football club is Olympique de Marseille, European Cup winner in 1993 but tainted by the 1990s match-fixing scandal by then owner Bernard Tapie.
Marseille was the birthplace of:
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