Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis

Aix-Marseille University (AMU; French: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as Université d'Aix-Marseille) is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. The institution was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, Count of Provence, petitioned the Pisan Antipope Alexander V to establish the University of Provence, making it the fourth-oldest university in France. It came into its current form following a reunification of the University of Provence, the University of the Mediterranean and Paul Cézanne University. The reunification became effective on 1 January 2012, resulting in the creation of the largest university in the Francophone world, with about 80,000 students. AMU has the largest budget of any academic institution in the French-speaking world standing at €750 million. It is consistently ranked among the top 200 universities in the world and is ranked within the top 4 universities in France according to CWTS and USNWR, and 5th in the country according to ARWU.The university is organized around five main campuses situated in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. Apart from its major campuses, AMU owns and operates facilities in Arles, Aubagne, Avignon, Digne-les-Bains, Gap, La Ciotat, Lambesc and Salon-de-Provence. The university is headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Marseille.AMU has produced many notable alumni in the fields of law, politics, business, science, academia and arts. To date, there have been four Nobel Prize laureates amongst its alumni and faculty, as well as a two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, four César Award winners, multiple heads of state or government, parliamentary speakers, government ministers, ambassadors and members of the constituent academies of the Institut de France. AMU has hundreds of research and teaching partnerships, including close collaboration with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). AMU is a member of numerous academic organisations including the European University Association (EUA) and the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED).

The Palais du Pharo is a palace in Marseille, France. It was built in 1858 by Emperor Napoleon III for Empress Eugénie.

Fort Saint-Nicolas is a former military fort in Marseille. It's the sister fort to Fort Saint-Jean which was constructed at the same time. After an uprisings in 1630–31 and the Fronde in 1648–1652, the young King Louis XIV had two large forts, fort St. Jean and Fort St. Nicholas, built at the harbour entrance to control the city's unruly population. It was constructed at the same time as Fort Saint-Jean on the opposite side of the harbour. Commenting on their construction, Louis XIV said, "We noticed that the inhabitants of Marseille were extremely fond of nice fortresses. We wanted to have our own at the entrance to this great port." In fact, the two new forts had cannons pointed inwards towards the town, not outwards towards the sea. It was besieged On 30 April 1790, and many of the soldiers inside were massacred. During the Battle of Marseille, it was the main center of German resistance. French artillery opened up on the fort and after two days it was clear that resistance was futile and the Marseille garrison surrendered on 27 August. On 29 August marines from the cruisers USS Augusta and USS Philadelphia accepted the surrender of Germans on the fortified harbour islands.: 126 

The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (Mucem; French: Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée) is a national museum located in Marseille, France. It was inaugurated on 7 June 2013 as part of Marseille-Provence 2013, a year when Marseille was designated as the European Capital of Culture. In 2015, it won the Council of Europe Museum Prize.

The Cercle des nageurs de Marseille (Circle of Marseille's swimmers) is an elite swim club based in Marseille, France, founded in 1921. It is best known for its water polo team which is the most decorated in France, and also for training many of the French Olympic swimmers, including Frédérick Bousquet, Fabien Gilot, Camille Lacourt, Florent Manaudou, Laure Manaudou and others.

The Marseille transporter bridge, inaugurated in 1905 and destroyed in 1944, was a crossing of the Old Port of Marseille, designed by engineer Ferdinand Arnodin.

The Abbey of Saint-Victor is a former abbey that was founded during the late Roman period in Marseille in the south of France, named after the local soldier saint and martyr, Victor of Marseilles.

The Phare de Sainte Marie is an inactive lighthouse built to mark the harbor of Marseille, France. Completed in 1855, it is made of natural-finished local limestone and stands 70 feet high. It is located at the north side of the Passe de la Joliette. This is at the southern entrance to the series of bassins that form the harbor. It was upgraded to electrical illumination in 1922 but is now inactive. This lighthouse was a featured clue box destination for teams to find on the fourth season of the reality television show, The Amazing Race.

La Tourette is a housing complex in Marseille, France. It is located at the Old Port of Marseille and was constructed in 1946–1953 following designs by the French architect and urban planner Fernand Pouillon.

Marseille Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille or Cathédrale de la Major) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a national monument of France, located in Marseille. It has been a basilica minor since 1896. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Marseille (formerly the Diocese of Marseille until its elevation in 1948).

The 7th arrondissement of Marseille is one of the 16 arrondissements of Marseille, France. It is governed locally together with the 1st arrondissement, with which it forms the 1st sector of Marseille.

The siege of Massilia was made by the Visigoths against the Roman city of Massilia, Gallia Narbonensis in 413. Campaigning in southern Gaul, the Visigothic king Ataulf had taken Toulouse and Narbonne and laid siege of Massilia. The city was defended by the capable Roman general Bonifacius. Ataulf failed to take Massilia, and later made peace with Emperor Honorius. Marrying Honorius' sister Galla Placidia. Ataulf was thereafter sent to recover Hispania for the empire.