Port

Marseille - MPM

4.2Marseille, FranceMarseille and the Calanques

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Maximum length: 295 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 19 ft

Historic harbour of Marseille run by the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, 3200 berths on both quays of the calanque that forms the heart of the city.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Entrance from the west between Fort Saint-Jean to the north and Fort Saint-Nicolas to the south, marked by red and green lights. Max draught 6 metres inside the basin. Mistral from NW blows straight down the harbour axis. Berths lie bow to two posts, one red and one green, stern to the quay, with the boscos on hand to help. Speed is strictly enforced in the old harbour, so there is little wash. VHF 9.

Practical

3200 berths across Quai de Rive Neuve, Quai du Port and Quai des Belges, fuel berth with diesel, water and electricity on the pontoons. Rates run at about 1 euro per square metre in high season, among the cheapest in Marseille. Berths are allocated on the day from those left free by absent owners, so book by email to capitainerie.vieux-port@ampmetropole.fr or call in the morning, as reservations are not guaranteed. Sanitary facilities are by the capitainerie, none on the town-hall pontoon. Metro stations Vieux-Port and Joliette within 400 metres.

Ashore

MuCEM, national museum of European and Mediterranean civilisations opened in 2013, on the J4 esplanade next to Fort Saint-Jean. Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde at 1.5 km uphill on its 154 m limestone spur. Daily fish market on Quai des Belges every morning. Le Panier, Marseille's oldest district, immediately north of the harbour, where La Vieille Charité, a 17th century almshouse, now holds museum collections.

History

Founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocaea under the name Massalia, which makes the Vieux-Port one of the oldest continuously used harbours in Europe. The chain that closed the entrance in the Middle Ages was broken by Alfonso V of Aragon in 1423. Forts Saint-Jean and Saint-Nicolas were built on Louis XIV's order from 1660 after a local revolt, with their guns deliberately pointed at the city.