Sheltered from the wind, Port-Miou was used by ships as an anchorage area very early on. Since Antiquity, it has been referred to as Portus melior, meaning “the best port”.
🪨The Cassis stone
A 115 million year old rock, which contains shells of organisms, from the distant era when the Calanques were submerged, has in fact undergone massive artisanal and then industrial exploitation.
Port-Miou was a mecca for the extraction of “Cassis stone”, a fine and compact limestone, known for its solidity.
The Romans used this material to build the paving stones of the port of Massilia and to carve paleochristian sarcophagi visible in the crypt of the abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille
Create the sidewalks and bases of buildings in Marseille in the 19th century, erect the Major Cathedral, the Planier lighthouse, the Rove tunnel, the quays of the ports of Marseille, Toulon, Alexandria, Port Said and those of the Canal de Sweat!
Used throughout Provence, notably for the manufacture of traditional wash basins and sinks (the “piles” as they are called locally).
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⛵A cove sheltered from storms
Sheltered from the wind, Port-Miou was used by ships as an anchorage area very early on. Since Antiquity, it has been referred to as Portus melior, meaning “the best port”. Roman ships stop there, just like the galleys of the Middle Ages.
🪨The stone of Cassis
A 115 million year old rock, which contains shells of organisms, from the distant era when the Calanques were submerged, has in fact undergone massive artisanal and then industrial exploitation.
Port-Miou was a mecca for the extraction of “Cassis stone”, a fine and compact limestone, known for its solidity.
The Romans used this material to build the paving stones of the port of Massilia and to carve paleochristian sarcophagi visible in the crypt of the abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille
Create the sidewalks and bases of buildings in Marseille in the 19th century, erect the Major Cathedral, the Planier lighthouse, the Rove tunnel, the quays of the ports of Marseille, Toulon, Alexandria, Port Said and those of the Suez Canal!
Used throughout Provence, notably for the manufacture of traditional washbasins and sinks (the “piles” as they are called locally).
In 1896, Ernest Solvay (Belgian industrialist) bought land in Port-Miou to open an industrial quarry. Boarding is done using hoppers, a sort of stone weir. Over three quarters of a century, between 6 and 7 million tonnes of rock were extracted from the sides of the cove and then crushed!
This deep cut in the rock gave it its current shape…
🍃A historic place of mobilization
Faced with this intensive exploitation of natural heritage, protest is mounting.
On March 13, 1910, 2,000 people, led in particular by the Marseille Excursionists, gathered to say “no” to a project to extend the quarry.
We still talk about this event as being the first demonstration to protect the Calanques, and one of the first environmental demonstrations in France.
After the First World War, industrialists began to covet the neighboring coves of Port-Pin and En-Vau, but strong opposition from public opinion led to the classification of these two coves in 1936 under the protection law. natural sites and monuments.
Thanks to these mobilizations, the Solvay quarry is not expanded, but its activity continues.
It closed its doors permanently in 1981.
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⛏️The Solvay career (1886-1981)
In 1896, Ernest Solvay (Belgian industrialist) bought land in Port-Miou to open industrial career. Boarding is done using hoppers, a sort of stone weir. Over three quarters of a century, between 6 and 7 million tons of rock were extracted from the sides of the cove and then crushed!
This deep cut in the rock gave it its current shape…
🍃A historic place of mobilization
Faced with this intensive exploitation of natural heritage, protest is mounting.
On March 13, 1910, 2,000 people, led in particular by the Marseille Excursionists, gathered to say “no” to a project to extend the career.
We still talk about this event as being the first demonstration to protect the Calanques, and one of the first environmental demonstrations in France.
After the First World War, industrialists began to covet the neighboring coves of Port-Pin and En-Vau, but strong opposition from public opinion led to the classification of these two coves in 1936 under the protection law. natural sites and monuments.
Thanks to these mobilizations, the Solvay quarry is not expanded, but its activity continues.
It closed its doors permanently in 1981.
Translated by Google •
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