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Fort Saint-Nicolas (Marseille)

Buildings and structures in MarseilleForts in FranceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur geography stubs
Marseille Fort Saint Nicolas
Marseille Fort Saint Nicolas

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 

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fort Saint-Nicolas (Marseille) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Fort Saint-Nicolas (Marseille)
Rampe Saint-Maurice, Marseille 7th Arrondissement

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N 43.2911 ° E 5.3625 °
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Fort Saint-Nicolas (Fort d'Entrecasteaux)

Rampe Saint-Maurice
13007 Marseille, 7th Arrondissement
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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Marseille Fort Saint Nicolas
Marseille Fort Saint Nicolas
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Aix-Marseille University

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).

Siege of Massilia
Siege of Massilia

The siege of Massilia, including two naval engagements, was an episode of Caesar's Civil War, fought in 49 BC between forces loyal to the Optimates and a detachment of Caesar's army. The siege was conducted by Gaius Trebonius, one of Caesar's senior legates, while the naval operations were in the capable hands of Decimus Brutus, Caesar's naval expert. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus had become proconsul of Gaul and was sent to gain control of Massilia (modern Marseille) in order to oppose Caesar. As Caesar marched to Hispania (en route to confront Pompey's legions), the Massiliots closed their gates to him, having allied with Ahenobarbus and the Optimates. Roused by their hostile actions, he commenced a siege against Massilia, leaving the newly raised XVII, XVIII, and XIX legions to conduct the siege under the command of Gaius Trebonius. He also placed Decimus Brutus in charge of his fleet there. Caesar himself marched with his veteran legions to Hispania to fight the Pompeian generals Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius. He would return to the siege of Massilia after defeating his opponents at the battle of Ilerda. After the siege had begun, Ahenobarbus arrived in Massilia to defend it against the Caesarian forces. In late June, Caesar's ships, although they were less skilfully built than those of the Massiliots and outnumbered, were victorious in the ensuing naval battle. Gaius Trebonius conducted the siege using a variety of siege machines including siege towers, a siege-ramp, and a "testudo-ram". Gaius Scribonius Curio, careless in adequately guarding the Sicilian Straits, allowed Lucius Nasidius to bring more ships to the aid of Ahenobarbus. He fought a second naval battle with Decimus Brutus in early September, but withdrew defeated and sailed for Hispania. Trebonius built a stationary tower, 30 feet (9.1 m) square and six stories in height, under the very walls of the city and in the face of a rain of missiles from its engines. The walls of the tower were of brickwork 5 feet (1.5 m) thick. When the lowest storey was built it was covered with a solid fireproof roof which was not secured to the walls but rested upon them like a lid. The eaves projected considerably, and from them screens were hung on all sides, covering all the walls. By means of screws the whole canopy, roof, and screens was now raised to the height of one storey and the workmen proceeded to build the walls of that storey under its protection. This process was repeated in the same manner until the full height of the tower was attained.The Massiliots valiantly defended against the siege machines and works. They threw down burning pitch and pine-shavings and the Caesarians undermined the foundations of their city walls. At one point they seemed likely to surrender and declare a truce, but at night they cunningly destroyed the siege works in a gross violation of the treaty, according to Caesar's own account (Bellum Civile 2.14; alternatively, Dio 41.25.2 records that the Massiliots destroyed these works in response to a surprise attack by the Caesarian forces). The city's inhabitants were then near surrender. At the final surrender of Massilia, Caesar showed his usual leniency and Lucius Ahenobarbus fled to Thessaly in the only vessel that was able to escape from the Populares. Afterwards, Massilia was allowed to keep nominal autonomy, due to ancient ties of friendship and support of Rome, along with some territories while most of its empire was confiscated by Julius Caesar.