Two spires closing the street
Look uphill from the old port and it terminates the axis.
Kent Wang — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kent Wang — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0
Marseille's main street, running uphill east from the old port and ending at this church. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was a symbol of the city's wealth, with its cafés and hotels; it later declined, and today it is a busy commercial street that reflects the real Marseille more than its tourist image.
Yes, and it is about a kilometre uphill. It gives you a cross-section of the city: from the touristic old port to the commercially and demographically mixed districts higher up. The church is a natural end to the route, and you can take the metro back from there.
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A large Gothic Revival church at the top of the Canebière, known locally as les Réformés, and among the landmarks of that central axis in Marseille. It was built in the nineteenth century with two tall pointed spires, arched windows and stained glass, in a manner imitating the Gothic cathedrals of northern France. That is a striking choice in a Mediterranean city whose traditional architecture is entirely different — Gothic Revival in the nineteenth century was a statement about belonging to northern France as much as an architectural style. The local name, les Réformés, comes from a monastery of Reformed Augustinian friars that stood on the site before the French Revolution. Its position at the top of the Canebière makes it the visual terminus of the street: look uphill from the old port and you see it closing the axis. Practical points: entry is free and the church is in use. The location is entirely central at a metro station, and you pass it if you walk the whole Canebière.
Look uphill from the old port and it terminates the axis.
The local name comes from a Reformed Augustinian house here before the Revolution.
Gothic Revival declared an allegiance to northern France.
Top of the Canebière, Place Stalingrad, Marseille