Cours Mirabeau
Encyclopedia
The Cours Mirabeau is a wide thoroughfare in Aix-en-Provence
, France
.
, Emile Zola
and Albert Camus
.
The street has wide sidewalks planted with double rows of plane-trees. The Cours Mirabeau is decorated by fountains, the most notable of which is La Rotonde, a large fountain that makes up a roundabout at one end of the street. The street also divides Aix into two portions, the Quartier Mazarin, a.k.a. the new town, which extends to the south and west, and the Ville comtale, a.k.a. the old town, which lies to the north with its wide but irregular streets and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
In 1650, the Provence Parliament commissioned the building of a thoroughfare for cart
s where there was a crumbled rempart. The idea was for it to become the new place of dalliance for Aix dwellers, instead of the place des Prêcheurs.
The thoroughfare cost 100,000 pounds
, and was paid for by property buyers, the town (15,000 pounds), Provence communes (20,000 livres) and the Duke of Vendôme, Louis de Mercœur.
A long enclosure closed off by remparts, town houses were gradually built on each side. A balustrade would look to fields and gardens downwards.
By 1696 four foutains had been built : Fontaine des 9 canons, Fontaine "Moussue, Fontaine du Roi René and, to the west, "les Chevaux-Marins", now vanished.
Whilst he first thought of building a palace there, the Duke of Vendôme came around and decided on the 'wildness of fields'. Instead he commissioned the pavillon Vendôme, where he died in 1669. His son, Louis Joseph de Vendôme, sold their part of the Cours Mirabeau back to Pierre de Creissel, who sold it again to four buyers, thus dividing it into four town houses.
In 1876, Mac-Mahon signed a decree for it to be named after Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
.
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Overview
440 meters long and 42 meters wide, the Cours Mirabeau is one of the most popular and lively places in the town. It is lined with many cafés, one of the most famous being Les Deux Garçons and during its history frequented by famous French cultural figures such as Paul CézannePaul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
, Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
and Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
.
The street has wide sidewalks planted with double rows of plane-trees. The Cours Mirabeau is decorated by fountains, the most notable of which is La Rotonde, a large fountain that makes up a roundabout at one end of the street. The street also divides Aix into two portions, the Quartier Mazarin, a.k.a. the new town, which extends to the south and west, and the Ville comtale, a.k.a. the old town, which lies to the north with its wide but irregular streets and its old mansions dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
History
From 1646 onwards, rich locals started moving into the Mazarin quarter, built by the brother of the Cardinal.In 1650, the Provence Parliament commissioned the building of a thoroughfare for cart
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
s where there was a crumbled rempart. The idea was for it to become the new place of dalliance for Aix dwellers, instead of the place des Prêcheurs.
The thoroughfare cost 100,000 pounds
French livre
The livre was the currency of France until 1795. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.-Etymology:...
, and was paid for by property buyers, the town (15,000 pounds), Provence communes (20,000 livres) and the Duke of Vendôme, Louis de Mercœur.
A long enclosure closed off by remparts, town houses were gradually built on each side. A balustrade would look to fields and gardens downwards.
By 1696 four foutains had been built : Fontaine des 9 canons, Fontaine "Moussue, Fontaine du Roi René and, to the west, "les Chevaux-Marins", now vanished.
Whilst he first thought of building a palace there, the Duke of Vendôme came around and decided on the 'wildness of fields'. Instead he commissioned the pavillon Vendôme, where he died in 1669. His son, Louis Joseph de Vendôme, sold their part of the Cours Mirabeau back to Pierre de Creissel, who sold it again to four buyers, thus dividing it into four town houses.
In 1876, Mac-Mahon signed a decree for it to be named after Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau was a French revolutionary, as well as a writer, diplomat, freemason, journalist and French politician at the same time. He was a popular orator and statesman. During the French Revolution, he was a moderate, favoring a constitutional monarchy built on...
.